Urine culture cost in Rochester, NY
In Rochester, NY, 8 hospitals list a cash price for urine culture for bacteria, with colony count: from $18.00 to $39.10, with a median of $29.19. The lowest listed price is at Nicholas H. Noyes Memorial Hospital — $11.19 less than the median here. Across New York, the median is $38.00 at 57 hospitals.
Cash prices at 8 facilities across 5 cities for code 87086, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Sep 23, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Apr 1, 2026 and Apr 1, 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 Rochester, NY.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list | File date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nicholas H. Noyes Memorial Hospital lowest Dansville, NY · (585) 335-6001 HB Culture Bacterial Quanttative Colony Count Urine | $18.00 | — | — | — | — source file |
| F.F. Thompson Hospital Canandaigua, NY · (585) 396-6000 HB Culture Bacterial Quanttative Colony Count Urine | $25.00 | — | — | — | — source file |
| Clifton Springs Hospital And Clinic Clifton Springs, NY · (315) 462-9561 HC URINE CULTURE WITH COLONY COUNT | $29.19 | $44.91 | — | 35% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Rochester General Hospital Rochester, NY · (585) 922-4000 HC URINE CULTURE WITH COLONY COUNT | $29.19 | $44.91 | — | 35% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Newark-Wayne Community Hospital Newark, NY · (315) 332-2022 HC URINE CULTURE WITH COLONY COUNT | $29.19 | $44.91 | — | 35% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| The Unity Hospital of Rochester Rochester, NY · (585) 723-7000 HC URINE CULTURE WITH COLONY COUNT | $35.93 | $44.91 | — | 20% | Apr 1, 2026 source file |
| Highland Hospital Rochester, NY · (585) 341-6711 HB Culture Bacterial Quanttative Colony Count Urine | $39.10 | — | $7.18–$18.16 | — | — source file |
| Strong Memorial Hospital Rochester, NY · (585) 275-2121 HB Culture Bacterial Quanttative Colony Count Urine | $39.10 | — | $7.18–$18.16 | — | — source file |
Outpatient: lowest $18.00, median $29.19, highest $39.10 — a 2.2× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 4 facilities here, median $29.19. 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 0 of 2 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 it is
A urine culture grows bacteria from a urine sample in the lab and counts how many colonies appear. It is used to confirm a urinary tract infection, especially when symptoms return or first treatment does not work.
What the price covers
The price usually covers the culture and colony count. If bacteria grow, identifying them and testing which antibiotics work are separate codes with their own charges.
1 row held back from this comparison
It is priced below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for code 87086 ($59.15). Such a line is almost always a physician's fee billed separately, an assistant's share or a placeholder — a real charge, but not the price of the procedure itself.
| Strong Memorial Hospital Rochester, NYCHG CULTURE BACTERIAL QUANTTATIVE COLONY COUNT URINE | $5.00 | file |