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Procedure price report · Other therapeutic ear procedures

Ear piercing

CPT 69090the billing code this page is about

Piercing of the earlobe or ear to allow earrings to be worn.

Hospitals typically charge $75 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 244 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $75. Most fall between $38 and $134 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
244
States
42
Filings dated
Jun 2024 – 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 244 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
$21$41$75$120$656

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 32× what the cheapest tenth charges ($21 vs $656).

How the prices are spread

$18 – $32: 28 hospitals$18$32 – $55: 52 hospitals$55 – $95: 71 hospitals$55$95 – $164: 48 hospitals$164 – $283: 2 hospitals$164$283 – $489: 5 hospitals$489 – $845: 3 hospitals$489$845 – $1,459: 2 hospitals$1,459 – $2,519: 6 hospitals$1,459$2,519 – $4,350: 3 hospitals$2,519median $75price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (220 of 244 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$18$3228
$32$5552
$55$9571
$95$16448
$164$2832
$283$4895
$489$8453
$845$1,4592
$1,459$2,5196
$2,519$4,3503

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $75.

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: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNHWashington: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWAIdaho: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMTNorth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $75 across 16 hospitalsIL$75Wisconsin: median $120 across 13 hospitalsWI$120Michigan: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMINew York: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNYMassachusetts: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMAOregon: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureORNevada: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $75 across 17 hospitalsIA$75Indiana: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureINOhio: median $21 across 18 hospitalsOH$21Pennsylvania: median $17 across 13 hospitalsPA$17New Jersey: median $4,627 across 19 hospitalsNJ$4,627Connecticut: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceRICalifornia: median $82 across 28 hospitalsCA$82Utah: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCONebraska: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMOKentucky: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKYWest Virginia: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVAMaryland: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceMDDelaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAZNew Mexico: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceNMKansas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureKSArkansas: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureARTennessee: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTNNorth Carolina: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNCSouth Carolina: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSCOklahoma: median $41 across 10 hospitalsOK$41Louisiana: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceLAMississippi: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMSAlabama: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureALGeorgia: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceGAHawaii: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureTXFlorida: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureFL
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $75. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
New Jersey NJ19$4,627+6053%$1,977 – $5,741
Wisconsin WI13$120+59%$120 – $120
California CA28$82+9%$82 – $82
Iowa IA17$750%$75 – $75
Illinois IL16$750%$50 – $139
Oklahoma OK10$41−45%$41 – $41
Ohio OH18$21−72%$21 – $44
Pennsylvania PA13$17−77%$16 – $122
Michigan MI9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New York NY8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Virginia VA7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Indiana IN6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Massachusetts MA6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Mississippi MS5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Washington WA5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Florida FL4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Minnesota MN4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Tennessee TN4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Colorado CO3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kansas KS3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Kentucky KY3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Carolina SC3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Texas TX3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alabama AL2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Missouri MO2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Carolina NC2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Oregon OR2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arkansas AR1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Arizona AZ1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD1not 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 $75.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care184$75$31 – $135
Children’s14fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access46$65$50 – $120
Ownership
For-profit21$50$32 – $120
Government29$65$38 – $119
Non-profit194$75$40 – $135
System affiliation
Part of a system208$75$41 – $134
Independent36$55$32 – $127

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$99
Median cash price$75
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

168 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $58 and the average of the middle 60% is $62; most fall between $29 and $117.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 168 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
$19$32$58$82$122

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.5× what the cheapest tenth charges ($19 vs $122).

Of the 190 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 168 gave a usable cash price; 15 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 7 a list price only.

How complete is this

244 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (6%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 299 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted244
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here25
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded29
Hospitals that filed this code299

Sections not shown for this setting

  • Against Medicare: Medicare has no separately payable national outpatient (OPPS) rate for this code, so there is nothing honest to compare against.
  • 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 23, 2026. The percentiles and averages use only the “counted” row.

Related procedures

Part of the Other therapeutic ear procedures family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Ear Piercing.

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 piercing (CPT 69090) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-69090-ear-piercing