Urine culture cost in Philadelphia, PA
In Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD, 26 hospitals list a cash price for urine culture for bacteria, with colony count: from $8.00 to $342.00, with a median of $60.00. The lowest listed price is at Lower Bucks Hospital and 1 other hospital — $52.00 less than the median here. Across Pennsylvania, the median is $56.70 at 103 hospitals.
- The median here, $60.00, is 12% below the US median of $67.86.
- That is 7.4× Medicare's 2026 national rate for the same service ($8.07).
- Philadelphia, PA ranks 2nd of 2 metro areas in Pennsylvania by median, cheapest first.
- 8 of 26 hospitals list a cash price equal to their full list price, with no self-pay discount.
Cash prices at 26 facilities across 21 cities for code 87086, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Oct 26, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Dec 31, 2025 and Sep 21, 2026.
Where each hospital's price falls
Each dot is one hospital's cash price on a scale from the lowest to the highest in Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lower Bucks Hospital lowest Bristol, PA · (215) 785-9200 Hc Urine Culture, Colony Count File of Sep 1, 2026 · source file | $8.00 | $240.00 | $6.46–$192.00 | 97% |
| Roxborough Memorial Hospital lowest Philadelphia, PA · (215) 483-9900 Hc Urine Culture, Colony Count File of Sep 1, 2026 · source file | $8.00 | $300.00 | $6.46–$291.00 | 97% |
| Inspira Medical Center Mannington Salem, NJ URINE CULTURE+1 more line at this price File of Mar 24, 2026 · source file | $27.33 | $27.33 | $4.61–$37.14 | — |
| Inspira Health Center Woodbury Woodbury, NJ Urine Culture Special-Q+1 more line at this price File of Mar 24, 2026 · source file | $27.33 | $27.33 | $5.23–$37.14 | — |
| Inspira Medical Center Elmer Elmer, NJ · (856) 363-1000 Urine Culture Special-Q+1 more line at this price File of Mar 24, 2026 · source file | $27.33 | $27.33 | $5.53–$37.14 | — |
| Inspira Medical Center Mullica Hill Mullica Hill, NJ · (856) 363-1000 URINE CULTURE+1 more line at this price File of Mar 24, 2026 · source file | $27.33 | $27.33 | $5.53–$37.14 | — |
| Virtua West Jersey Hospital - Marlton Voorhees, NJ · (856) 247-3000 HC Urine Culture File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $28.60 | $286.00 | $7.75–$124.08 | 90% |
| Virtua Willingboro Hospital Willinboro, NJ · (609) 835-2900 HC Urine Culture File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $28.60 | $286.00 | $7.75–$124.08 | 90% |
| Virtua West Jersey Hospital - Voorhees Voorhees, NJ · (856) 247-3000 HC Urine Culture+1 more line at this price File of Jun 1, 2026 · source file | $28.60 | $286.00 | $7.75–$124.08 | 90% |
| Virtua Memorial Hospital Mount Holly, NJ · (609) 267-0700 HC Urine Culture File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $28.60 | $286.00 | $7.75–$124.08 | 90% |
| Virtua Our Lady of Lourdes Camden, NJ · (856) 886-5373 HC Urine Culture File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $28.60 | $286.00 | $7.75–$124.08 | 90% |
| Holy Redeemer Hospital and Medical Center Meadowbrook, PA · (215) 947-3000 Urine Cath Culture+1 more line at this price File of Sep 21, 2026 · source file | $29.73 | $49.54 | $8.07–$37.32 | 40% |
| Holy Redeemer Hospital and Medical Center Meadowbrook, PA · (215) 947-3000 Urine Midstream Culture File of Sep 21, 2026 · source file | $36.03 | $60.05 | $8.07–$37.32 | 40% |
| Riddle Memorial Hospital Media, PA · (610) 566-9400 Hc Urine Culture File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $60.00 | $150.00 | — | 60% |
| Paoli Hospital Paoli, PA · (610) 648-1000 Hc Urine Culture File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $60.00 | $150.00 | — | 60% |
| Lankenau Medical Center Wynnewood, PA · (610) 645-2000 Hc Urine Culture File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $60.00 | $150.00 | — | 60% |
| The Bryn Mawr Hospital Bryn Mawr, PA · (610) 526-3000 Hc Urine Culture File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $60.00 | $150.00 | — | 60% |
| Shriners Childrens - Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA · (215) 430-4000 BACTERIAL COLONY COUNT; URINE File of Mar 19, 2026 · source file | $70.30 | $70.30 | $7.18–$17.72 | — |
| St Mary Medical Center Langhorne, PA · (215) 750-2003 HC Culture Colony Count Urine File of Mar 31, 2026 · source file | $109.20 | $168.00 | $8.07–$159.60 | 35% |
| Union Hospital of Cecil County Elkton, MD · (410) 392-7009 CULTURE,URINE File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $131.39 | $131.39 | — | — |
| Nazareth Hospital Philadelphia, PA · (215) 335-6000 HC Culture Colony Count Urine File of Mar 31, 2026 · source file | $138.45 | $213.00 | $8.07–$473.55 | 35% |
| Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital Darby, PA · (215) 237-4000 HC Culture Colony Count Urine File of Mar 31, 2026 · source file | $141.70 | $218.00 | $8.05–$218.00 | 35% |
| St. Francis Hospital Wilmington, DE · (302) 421-4100 HC Culture Colony Count Urine File of Mar 31, 2026 · source file | $145.60 | $224.00 | $7.91–$215.04 | 35% |
| The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia Philadelphia, PA · (215) 590-1000 Culture-Urine File of Dec 31, 2025 · source file | $270.67 | $270.67 | $10.80–$243.60 | — |
| St Luke's Hospital - Upper Bucks Campus Quakertown, PA · (267) 985-1000 HB URINE CULTURE/COLONY COUNT File of Feb 26, 2026 · source file | $293.40 | $326.00 | $8.00–$269.99 | 10% |
| St Luke's Hospital - Grand View Campus Sellersville, PA · (215) 453-4000 HB URINE CULTURE/COLONY COUNT File of Feb 26, 2026 · source file | $293.40 | $326.00 | $8.07–$920.00 | 10% |
| Nemours Children's Hospital, Delaware Wilmington, DE · (302) 651-4000 Culture Bacterial Quant Urine+1 more line at this price File of Mar 10, 2026 · source file | $342.00 | $342.00 | — | — |
Outpatient: lowest $8.00, median $60.00, highest $342.00 — a 42.8× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 17 facilities here, median $60.00. Inpatient and outpatient prices are not comparable and are kept on separate pages: the inpatient charge covers admission, not the same purchase.
Cash or insurance?
At 17 of 20 hospitals that publish insurer rates for this code here, the cash price is below the highest rate a health plan has negotiated, and at none is it below every plan's rate. If you have insurance but have not met your deductible, you usually pay your plan's negotiated rate, which falls somewhere in the "Insurers pay" column. Paying cash can cost less, but a cash payment usually does not count toward your deductible. Ask the hospital for both numbers before you book.
What urine culture is, what the price covers and why prices differ: Urine culture explained.