Download the data
- P10, median and P90 for every procedure with 100+ hospitals (CSV)
- Lowest, median and highest by procedure and state (CSV)
Method
- Source. Since 2021 every US hospital must publish its standard charges, including the discounted cash price, in a machine-readable file (45 CFR 180.50). We read those files directly and keep every price exactly as published, with a link to its file.
- One price per hospital. A hospital often lists several lines for one code. Each hospital counts once, at its lowest outpatient cash price for the code, so a hospital with many lines does not outweigh one with a single line.
- Comparable prices only. Outpatient prices only; prices for both sides of the body, physician-only or technical-only components, and lines below $1 or below a tenth of the national median for the code (almost always a separate fee or a placeholder) are left out.
- Percentiles, not extremes. The spread is the 90th percentile divided by the 10th. Hospital files contain occasional errors, and a single wrong line should not decide a headline, so we do not report the single lowest or highest price nationally.
- States. A hospital system usually publishes the same price for all its hospitals from one website. A state is compared only when its prices come from at least 5 separate websites; the by-state CSV has every state.
- What is not covered. Hospitals only — not freestanding imaging centers or labs, which are often cheaper. A cash price is a published charge, not a quote: a separate physician fee may apply.
Contact
Questions about the data, custom cuts for a state or metro, or corrections: [email protected].