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Procedure price report · Diagnostic spinal tap

Diagnostic spinal tap

CPT 62270the billing code this page is about

A needle is placed in the lower back to collect a sample of spinal fluid for testing.

Hospitals typically charge $742 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,983 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $760. Most fall between $300 and $1,350 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,983
States
50
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 2,983 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
$182$369$742$1,205$2,049

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($182 vs $2,049).

How the prices are spread

$126 – $172: 123 hospitals$126$172 – $235: 158 hospitals$235 – $321: 226 hospitals$235$321 – $440: 241 hospitals$440 – $601: 316 hospitals$440$601 – $822: 441 hospitals$822 – $1,125: 488 hospitals$822$1,125 – $1,538: 367 hospitals$1,538 – $2,104: 206 hospitals$1,538$2,104 – $2,877: 123 hospitals$2,104median $742price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,689 of 2,983 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$126$172123
$172$235158
$235$321226
$321$440241
$440$601316
$601$822441
$822$1,125488
$1,125$1,538367
$1,538$2,104206
$2,104$2,877123

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$721
Median cash price$742
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.03×

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 $742.

Alaska: median $666 across 17 hospitalsAK$666Maine: median $441 across 22 hospitalsME$441Vermont: median $493 across 13 hospitalsVT$493New Hampshire: median $461 across 19 hospitalsNH$461Washington: median $599 across 78 hospitalsWA$599Idaho: median $848 across 22 hospitalsID$848Montana: median $207 across 24 hospitalsMT$207North Dakota: median $872 across 21 hospitalsND$872Minnesota: median $671 across 102 hospitalsMN$671Illinois: median $794 across 126 hospitalsIL$794Wisconsin: median $580 across 104 hospitalsWI$580Michigan: median $733 across 90 hospitalsMI$733New York: median $820 across 98 hospitalsNY$820Massachusetts: median $919 across 50 hospitalsMA$919Oregon: median $412 across 56 hospitalsOR$412Nevada: median $767 across 21 hospitalsNV$767Wyoming: median $437 across 16 hospitalsWY$437South Dakota: median $566 across 21 hospitalsSD$566Iowa: median $444 across 81 hospitalsIA$444Indiana: median $692 across 85 hospitalsIN$692Ohio: median $1,039 across 136 hospitalsOH$1,039Pennsylvania: median $893 across 113 hospitalsPA$893New Jersey: median $923 across 56 hospitalsNJ$923Connecticut: median $405 across 20 hospitalsCT$405Rhode Island: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $1,321 across 191 hospitalsCA$1,321Utah: median $956 across 32 hospitalsUT$956Colorado: median $759 across 65 hospitalsCO$759Nebraska: median $519 across 63 hospitalsNE$519Missouri: median $621 across 75 hospitalsMO$621Kentucky: median $673 across 47 hospitalsKY$673West Virginia: median $844 across 38 hospitalsWV$844Virginia: median $859 across 60 hospitalsVA$859Maryland: median $353 across 12 hospitalsMD$353Delaware: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $452 across 46 hospitalsAZ$452New Mexico: median $571 across 28 hospitalsNM$571Kansas: median $418 across 76 hospitalsKS$418Arkansas: median $516 across 36 hospitalsAR$516Tennessee: median $402 across 55 hospitalsTN$402North Carolina: median $746 across 81 hospitalsNC$746South Carolina: median $1,012 across 45 hospitalsSC$1,012Oklahoma: median $598 across 61 hospitalsOK$598Louisiana: median $440 across 50 hospitalsLA$440Mississippi: median $291 across 51 hospitalsMS$291Alabama: median $675 across 41 hospitalsAL$675Georgia: median $977 across 97 hospitalsGA$977Hawaii: median $1,176 across 18 hospitalsHI$1,176Texas: median $1,046 across 197 hospitalsTX$1,046Florida: median $1,141 across 111 hospitalsFL$1,141
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $742. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA191$1,321+78%$646 – $2,350
Hawaii HI18$1,176+58%$722 – $1,928
Florida FL111$1,141+54%$369 – $2,410
Texas TX197$1,046+41%$514 – $1,361
Ohio OH136$1,039+40%$564 – $1,517
South Carolina SC45$1,012+36%$563 – $1,541
Georgia GA97$977+32%$304 – $2,049
Utah UT32$956+29%$773 – $1,125
New Jersey NJ56$923+24%$767 – $3,786
Massachusetts MA50$919+24%$412 – $1,696
Pennsylvania PA113$893+20%$583 – $1,954
North Dakota ND21$872+17%$236 – $1,209
Virginia VA60$859+16%$477 – $1,169
Idaho ID22$848+14%$166 – $1,886
West Virginia WV38$844+14%$164 – $1,257
New York NY98$820+10%$204 – $1,539
Illinois IL126$794+7%$412 – $1,367
Nevada NV21$767+3%$462 – $1,449
Colorado CO65$759+2%$381 – $1,333
North Carolina NC81$746+1%$398 – $883
Michigan MI90$733−1%$300 – $1,019
Indiana IN85$692−7%$149 – $1,171
Alabama AL41$675−9%$364 – $1,722
Kentucky KY47$673−9%$232 – $1,180
Minnesota MN102$671−10%$247 – $930
Alaska AK17$666−10%$247 – $1,214
Missouri MO75$621−16%$259 – $1,471
Washington WA78$599−19%$261 – $1,406
Oklahoma OK61$598−19%$211 – $983
Wisconsin WI104$580−22%$302 – $858
New Mexico NM28$571−23%$416 – $1,153
South Dakota SD21$566−24%$417 – $932
Nebraska NE63$519−30%$227 – $864
Arkansas AR36$516−30%$173 – $815
Vermont VT13$493−34%$205 – $1,515
New Hampshire NH19$461−38%$77 – $838
Arizona AZ46$452−39%$294 – $2,164
Iowa IA81$444−40%$242 – $950
Maine ME22$441−41%$104 – $604
Louisiana LA50$440−41%$238 – $649
Wyoming WY16$437−41%$175 – $804
Kansas KS76$418−44%$168 – $664
Oregon OR56$412−44%$148 – $1,297
Connecticut CT20$405−45%$138 – $1,168
Tennessee TN55$402−46%$277 – $830
Maryland MD12$353−52%$138 – $1,023
Mississippi MS51$291−61%$215 – $842
Montana MT24$207−72%$109 – $305
Rhode Island RI9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE7not 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 $742.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,092$834$402 – $1,518
Children’s67$996$392 – $2,916
Critical access816$444$192 – $951
Ownership
For-profit329$893$416 – $1,984
Government575$520$210 – $977
Non-profit2,071$779$323 – $1,367
System affiliation
Part of a system2,383$798$347 – $1,412
Independent600$517$189 – $1,089

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$1,302
Median cash price$742
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

2,250 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $831 and the average of the middle 60% is $845; most fall between $386 and $1,451.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,250 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
$213$444$831$1,301$2,066

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.7× what the cheapest tenth charges ($213 vs $2,066).

Of the 2,421 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,250 gave a usable cash price; 70 carried a plausibility flag, 2 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 99 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,983 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (75%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,203 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,983
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here101
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded2
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded6
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded111
Hospitals that filed this code3,203

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 Diagnostic spinal tap family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Diagnostic Lumbar Spinal Puncture.

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, “Diagnostic spinal tap (CPT 62270) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-62270-diagnostic-spinal-tap