HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

Procedure price report · Other OR therapeutic procedures on musculoskeletal system

Ear cartilage graft to the nose or ear

CPT 21235the billing code this page is about

Taking cartilage from the patient's own ear and grafting it to the nose or ear to restore shape or support.

Hospitals typically charge $3,784 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 642 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $4,383. Most fall between $1,298 and $9,188 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
642
States
49
Filings dated
Mar 2023 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 24, 2026

Median: half of hospitals filed less, half more — and it is a price some hospital actually filed. Average of the middle 60%: the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain average, the lowest or the highest price: the extremes in hospital price files are chargemaster artefacts, not prices anyone pays.

What hospitals charge, from cheapest to most expensive

Cash price percentiles, outpatient, across 642 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$939$1,483$3,784$7,834$14,870

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 16× what the cheapest tenth charges ($939 vs $14,870).

How the prices are spread

$606 – $861: 22 hospitals$606$861 – $1,224: 60 hospitals$1,224 – $1,740: 73 hospitals$1,224$1,740 – $2,472: 72 hospitals$2,472 – $3,514: 40 hospitals$2,472$3,514 – $4,993: 58 hospitals$4,993 – $7,097: 107 hospitals$4,993$7,097 – $10,086: 74 hospitals$10,086 – $14,334: 37 hospitals$10,086$14,334 – $20,371: 35 hospitals$14,334median $3,784price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (578 of 642 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$606$86122
$861$1,22460
$1,224$1,74073
$1,740$2,47272
$2,472$3,51440
$3,514$4,99358
$4,993$7,097107
$7,097$10,08674
$10,086$14,33437
$14,334$20,37135

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$6,048
Median cash price$3,784
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.63×

The Medicare figure is the national unadjusted OPPS rate for this code — what Medicare itself pays a hospital before local wage adjustment. It is a benchmark, not a price anyone is charged.

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $3,784.

Alaska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $4,932 across 14 hospitalsWA$4,932Idaho: median $12,747 across 10 hospitalsID$12,747Montana: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $3,179 across 25 hospitalsMN$3,179Illinois: median $1,575 across 22 hospitalsIL$1,575Wisconsin: median $1,875 across 45 hospitalsWI$1,875Michigan: median $1,875 across 22 hospitalsMI$1,875New York: median $7,027 across 49 hospitalsNY$7,027Massachusetts: median $4,142 across 14 hospitalsMA$4,142Oregon: median $1,387 across 11 hospitalsOR$1,387Nevada: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $1,787 across 25 hospitalsIA$1,787Indiana: median $1,608 across 12 hospitalsIN$1,608Ohio: median $4,030 across 28 hospitalsOH$4,030Pennsylvania: median $6,936 across 36 hospitalsPA$6,936New Jersey: median $6,548 across 33 hospitalsNJ$6,548Connecticut: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $3,520 across 53 hospitalsCA$3,520Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: median $1,824 across 16 hospitalsMO$1,824Kentucky: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $1,652 across 10 hospitalsVA$1,652Maryland: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $1,198 across 13 hospitalsOK$1,198Louisiana: median $5,876 across 10 hospitalsLA$5,876Mississippi: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: median $3,784 across 18 hospitalsGA$3,784Hawaii: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $5,686 across 27 hospitalsTX$5,686Florida: median $8,595 across 17 hospitalsFL$8,595
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $3,784. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Idaho ID10$12,747+237%$3,212 – $15,519
Florida FL17$8,595+127%$5,938 – $17,192
New York NY49$7,027+86%$1,673 – $9,188
Pennsylvania PA36$6,936+83%$417 – $9,186
New Jersey NJ33$6,548+73%$4,881 – $7,659
Louisiana LA10$5,876+55%$2,906 – $11,898
Texas TX27$5,686+50%$5,013 – $8,646
Washington WA14$4,932+30%$1,133 – $8,875
Massachusetts MA14$4,142+9%$2,372 – $8,658
Ohio OH28$4,030+6%$1,485 – $34,835
Georgia GA18$3,7840%$1,301 – $15,440
California CA53$3,520−7%$1,922 – $11,883
Minnesota MN25$3,179−16%$1,254 – $3,729
Michigan MI22$1,875−50%$1,010 – $19,160
Wisconsin WI45$1,875−50%$1,298 – $4,233
Missouri MO16$1,824−52%$1,202 – $21,197
Iowa IA25$1,787−53%$1,439 – $3,511
Virginia VA10$1,652−56%$385 – $20,053
Indiana IN12$1,608−57%$951 – $7,627
Illinois IL22$1,575−58%$951 – $3,784
Oregon OR11$1,387−63%$1,350 – $6,054
Oklahoma OK13$1,198−68%$1,198 – $4,938
Alabama AL9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price

Hospitals like yours

The same distribution cut by the kind of hospital. Hospital type and ownership come from CMS; a hospital counts as part of a system when its price file is shared with at least one other hospital under the same brand. The national median is $3,784.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care528$4,801$1,350 – $9,286
Children’s17fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access96$1,875$1,227 – $6,385
Ownership
For-profit64$5,283$1,626 – $15,255
Government97$2,040$1,112 – $7,000
Non-profit480$3,908$1,301 – $9,188
System affiliation
Part of a system518$4,536$1,329 – $9,188
Independent124$2,063$1,032 – $6,865

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$4,944
Median cash price$3,784
Cash as a share of list, median hospital61%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 39%. The share is the median of each hospital’s own cash ÷ list ratio, over hospitals that filed both — not the ratio of the two medians above.

The same procedure, inpatient

338 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,922 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,954; most fall between $1,124 and $7,650.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 338 hospitals. Each figure is a price a hospital filed. 10th: one in ten hospitals charges less; 25th: a quarter charge less; Median: half charge less; 75th: three quarters charge less; 90th: nine in ten charge less.
10th25thMedian75th90th
$843$1,254$1,922$6,385$11,883

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 14× what the cheapest tenth charges ($843 vs $11,883).

Of the 371 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 338 gave a usable cash price; 14 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 19 a list price only.

How complete is this

642 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (16%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 708 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted642
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here37
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded4
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded24
Hospitals that filed this code708

Sections not shown for this setting

  • Since our last snapshot: there is no earlier snapshot at least 90 days older than this one yet.

We last checked these hospitals’ price files for changes between September 4, 2026 and September 24, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 24, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Other OR therapeutic procedures on musculoskeletal system family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as PR Ear Cartilage Graft to Face.

Method

Source
The machine-readable price files every U.S. hospital is required by CMS to publish, parsed per hospital. Nothing is surveyed, sampled or modelled.
What counts
One cash (self-pay) price per hospital for this code and setting. A hospital’s own filing can rule its number out — a placeholder, a “not applicable” note, a list price standing in for cash — and our plausibility checks can flag a price far below what every other hospital files. Both kinds are disclosed above and excluded from the statistics; on the compare tool a flagged price is still shown.
Statistics
Percentiles are discrete: each is a price some hospital filed. The average is the mean of the prices between the 20th and 80th percentiles. We never publish the plain mean, the minimum or the maximum. A state needs 10 hospitals and a segment 20 to show a figure; otherwise the row shows its count and no number. Medicare is the national unadjusted OPPS rate where one exists.
Names
Procedure names on these pages are our own plain-language titles, not the AMA’s copyrighted CPT descriptors. The code is the identity.

The full rules — sources, statistics, thresholds, limitations — are on the methodology page.

Download this page’s figures: JSON · CSV. Aggregates only — the per-hospital prices are on the compare tool.

Cite: HospitalRates.com, “Ear cartilage graft to the nose or ear (CPT 21235) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-21235-ear-cartilage-graft-to-the-nose-or-ear