Pap smear (lab reading) cost in Houston, TX
In Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX, 18 hospitals list a cash price for Pap test lab reading: liquid-based cervical sample, manual screening: from $18.81 to $189.00, with a median of $62.00. The lowest listed price is at HCA Houston Healthcare Tomball — $43.19 less than the median here. Across Texas, the median is $87.01 at 172 hospitals.
- The median here, $62.00, is 13% below the US median of $70.94.
- That is 3.1× Medicare's 2026 national rate for the same service ($20.26).
- Houston, TX has the lowest median of 3 metro areas in Texas with at least 10 hospitals pricing this code.
- 2 of 18 hospitals list a cash price equal to their full list price, with no self-pay discount.
Cash prices at 18 facilities across 12 cities for code 88142, as an outpatient — the setting a self-pay patient normally buys. Collected Nov 4, 2026; the hospital files themselves were last updated between Feb 28, 2026 and Sep 8, 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 Houston-Pasadena-The Woodlands, TX.
Hospitals, cheapest first
| Hospital | Cash price | List price | Insurers pay | Off list |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| HCA Houston Healthcare Tomball lowest Houston, TX · (281) 351-7500 PAPDX TCSC NORSC TH+1 more line at this price File of Sep 1, 2026 · source file | $18.81 | $18.81 | $1.13–$107.81 | — |
| Hsa St. Joseph Houston, TX · (713) 757-1000 RL CP CERV/VAG; ATL; MANL SCRN+1 more line at this price File of Sep 1, 2026 · source file | $19.85 | $226.94 | $10.65–$226.94 | 91% |
| Harris Health Taub Loop Houston, TX · (713) 873-2000 LIQUID/FLUID-BASED PAP TEST File of Mar 24, 2026 · source file | $20.26 | $325.00 | $17.02–$211.25 | 94% |
| Harris Health Houston, TX · (713) 873-2000 LIQUID/FLUID-BASED PAP TEST File of Mar 24, 2026 · source file | $20.26 | $325.00 | $17.02–$211.25 | 94% |
| Houston Methodist Baytown Hospital Baytown, TX · (281) 420-8600 HC CYTOPATH SCR THIN PREP-GYNPATH File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $62.00 | $124.00 | — | 50% |
| Houston Methodist Cypress Hospital Cypress, TX · (346) 618-1506 HC CYTOPATH SCR THIN PREP-GYNPATH File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $62.00 | $124.00 | — | 50% |
| Houston Methodist Clear Lake Hospital Nassau Bay, TX · (281) 333-5503 HC CYTOPATH SCR THIN PREP-GYNPATH File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $62.00 | $124.00 | — | 50% |
| Houston Methodist The Woodlands Hospital The Woodlands, TX · (936) 270-2000 HC CYTOPATH SCR THIN PREP-GYNPATH File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $62.00 | $124.00 | — | 50% |
| Methodist West Houston Hospital Houston, TX · (832) 522-1000 HC CYTOPATH SCR THIN PREP-GYNPATH File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $62.00 | $124.00 | — | 50% |
| Methodist Willowbrook Hospital Houston, TX · (281) 477-1000 HC CYTOPATH SCR THIN PREP-GYNPATH File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $62.00 | $124.00 | — | 50% |
| Houston Methodist Continuing Care Hospital Katy, TX HC CYTOPATH SCR THIN PREP-GYNPATH File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $62.00 | $124.00 | — | 50% |
| Methodist Sugar Land Hospital Sugar Land, TX · (281) 274-8000 HC CYTOPATH SCR THIN PREP-GYNPATH File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $62.00 | $124.00 | — | 50% |
| The Community Hospital of Brazosport Lake Jackson, TX · (979) 297-4411 THIN PREP PAP File of Feb 28, 2026 · source file | $63.32 | $180.90 | $17.02–$145.45 | 65% |
| The Methodist Hospital Houston, TX · (713) 790-2221 HC CYTOPATH SCR THIN PREP-GYNPATH File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $69.00 | $138.00 | — | 50% |
| Sweeny Community Hospital Sweeny, TX · (979) 548-3311 Pap test, manual screening File of Sep 8, 2026 · source file | $72.30 | $120.50 | $24.41–$120.50 | 40% |
| Texas Children's Hospital Houston, TX · (832) 824-1000 TC SUREPATH PAP; CYTOPATHOLOGY, CERVICAL/VAGINAL, PRESERVATIVE FLUID, AUTOMATED THIN LAYER PREP+2 more lines at this price File of Mar 5, 2026 · source file | $97.15 | $145.00 | $20.26–$137.75 | 33% |
| Texas Children's Hospital Houston, TX · (832) 824-1000 TC CERVICAL SMEAR+2 more lines at this price File of Mar 5, 2026 · source file | $107.87 | $161.00 | $20.26–$152.95 | 33% |
| Liberty Dayton Regional Medical Center Liberty, TX · (936) 336-7316 Cytotechnologist Qst:+1 more line at this price source file | $126.00 | $180.00 | $108.00–$171.00 | 30% |
| Cornerstone Hospital Conroe Conroe, TX PAP SMEAR THIN PREP File of Apr 1, 2026 · source file | $189.00 | $189.00 | — | — |
Outpatient: lowest $18.81, median $62.00, highest $189.00 — a 10.0× difference within the same market.
As an inpatient, the same code is billed by 14 facilities here, median $62.00. 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 7 of 8 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 Pap smear (lab reading) is, what the price covers and why prices differ: Pap smear (lab reading) explained.