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Procedure price report · Tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy

Tonsil removal, child under 12

CPT 42825the billing code this page is about

Surgical removal of the tonsils, whether a first operation or a repeat after earlier tonsil surgery, in a patient younger than 12.

Hospitals typically charge $1,761 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 675 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,654. Most fall between $504 and $7,119 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
675
States
48
Filings dated
Aug 2022 – 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 675 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
$337$576$1,761$6,530$10,359

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 31× what the cheapest tenth charges ($337 vs $10,359).

How the prices are spread

$273 – $406: 69 hospitals$273$406 – $603: 74 hospitals$603 – $896: 90 hospitals$603$896 – $1,331: 33 hospitals$1,331 – $1,978: 52 hospitals$1,331$1,978 – $2,938: 47 hospitals$2,938 – $4,366: 41 hospitals$2,938$4,366 – $6,486: 68 hospitals$6,486 – $9,637: 92 hospitals$6,486$9,637 – $14,319: 55 hospitals$9,637median $1,761price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (621 of 675 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$273$40669
$406$60374
$603$89690
$896$1,33133
$1,331$1,97852
$1,978$2,93847
$2,938$4,36641
$4,366$6,48668
$6,486$9,63792
$9,637$14,31955

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$6,048
Median cash price$1,761
Cash as a multiple of Medicare0.29×

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 $1,761.

Alaska: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $1,050 across 13 hospitalsWA$1,050Idaho: median $7,255 across 11 hospitalsID$7,255Montana: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $726 across 26 hospitalsMN$726Illinois: median $945 across 29 hospitalsIL$945Wisconsin: median $1,761 across 33 hospitalsWI$1,761Michigan: median $400 across 36 hospitalsMI$400New York: median $7,000 across 50 hospitalsNY$7,000Massachusetts: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: median $673 across 23 hospitalsOR$673Nevada: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $650 across 35 hospitalsIA$650Indiana: median $337 across 10 hospitalsIN$337Ohio: median $913 across 22 hospitalsOH$913Pennsylvania: median $3,908 across 23 hospitalsPA$3,908New Jersey: median $6,548 across 32 hospitalsNJ$6,548Connecticut: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $2,652 across 44 hospitalsCA$2,652Utah: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $8,292 across 11 hospitalsCO$8,292Nebraska: median $563 across 18 hospitalsNE$563Missouri: median $806 across 16 hospitalsMO$806Kentucky: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: median $527 across 17 hospitalsWV$527Virginia: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMDDelaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $1,972 across 17 hospitalsKS$1,972Arkansas: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $565 across 15 hospitalsOK$565Louisiana: median $4,629 across 11 hospitalsLA$4,629Mississippi: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: median $4,216 across 10 hospitalsAL$4,216Georgia: median $9,791 across 14 hospitalsGA$9,791Hawaii: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $4,556 across 34 hospitalsTX$4,556Florida: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,761. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Georgia GA14$9,791+456%$509 – $9,791
Colorado CO11$8,292+371%$552 – $8,292
Idaho ID11$7,255+312%$2,981 – $15,519
New York NY50$7,000+297%$695 – $9,188
New Jersey NJ32$6,548+272%$5,110 – $7,894
Louisiana LA11$4,629+163%$1,460 – $6,517
Texas TX34$4,556+159%$3,845 – $9,237
Alabama AL10$4,216+139%$743 – $6,669
Pennsylvania PA23$3,908+122%$125 – $10,001
California CA44$2,652+51%$1,360 – $14,319
Kansas KS17$1,972+12%$541 – $2,580
Wisconsin WI33$1,7610%$1,429 – $2,381
Washington WA13$1,050−40%$501 – $6,523
Illinois IL29$945−46%$454 – $6,481
Ohio OH22$913−48%$679 – $10,429
Missouri MO16$806−54%$389 – $5,715
Minnesota MN26$726−59%$563 – $1,663
Oregon OR23$673−62%$501 – $790
Iowa IA35$650−63%$545 – $1,028
Oklahoma OK15$565−68%$565 – $4,131
Nebraska NE18$563−68%$504 – $2,675
West Virginia WV17$527−70%$280 – $2,689
Michigan MI36$400−77%$273 – $8,140
Indiana IN10$337−81%$297 – $606
Mississippi MS9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maryland MD1not 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 $1,761.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care485$3,269$527 – $8,140
Children’s17fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access173$766$444 – $2,123
Ownership
For-profit75$5,013$920 – $9,025
Government130$972$466 – $5,657
Non-profit470$1,663$501 – $7,390
System affiliation
Part of a system521$2,381$501 – $7,894
Independent154$904$506 – $5,134

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$1,671
Median cash price$1,761
Cash as a share of list, median hospital65%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 35%. 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

321 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $762 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,345; most fall between $389 and $4,752.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 321 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
$293$461$762$4,183$10,359

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 35× what the cheapest tenth charges ($293 vs $10,359).

Of the 358 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 321 gave a usable cash price; 20 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 17 a list price only.

How complete is this

675 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (17%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 746 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted675
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here46
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded2
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded23
Hospitals that filed this code746

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 Tonsillectomy and/or adenoidectomy family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as PR Removal of Tonsils,<12 Y/O.

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, “Tonsil removal, child under 12 (CPT 42825) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-42825-tonsil-removal-child-under-12