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Procedure price report · Other diagnostic radiology and related techniques

Limited X-ray of the mastoid bones behind the ear

CPT 70120the billing code this page is about

X-ray of the mastoid bone behind the ear using fewer than three views per side.

Hospitals typically charge $194 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,154 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $204. Most fall between $102 and $350 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,154
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 1,154 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
$65$115$194$317$589

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($65 vs $589).

How the prices are spread

$40 – $54: 27 hospitals$40$54 – $73: 58 hospitals$73 – $99: 72 hospitals$73$99 – $134: 146 hospitals$134 – $181: 166 hospitals$134$181 – $245: 196 hospitals$245 – $333: 168 hospitals$245$333 – $451: 108 hospitals$451 – $611: 47 hospitals$451$611 – $828: 56 hospitals$611median $194price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,044 of 1,154 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$40$5427
$54$7358
$73$9972
$99$134146
$134$181166
$181$245196
$245$333168
$333$451108
$451$61147
$611$82856

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$107
Median cash price$194
Cash as a multiple of Medicare1.82×

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 $194.

Alaska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $188 across 16 hospitalsME$188Vermont: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $195 across 41 hospitalsWA$195Idaho: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $253 across 27 hospitalsMN$253Illinois: median $139 across 35 hospitalsIL$139Wisconsin: median $234 across 35 hospitalsWI$234Michigan: median $103 across 25 hospitalsMI$103New York: median $126 across 42 hospitalsNY$126Massachusetts: median $277 across 21 hospitalsMA$277Oregon: median $54 across 16 hospitalsOR$54Nevada: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $136 across 30 hospitalsIA$136Indiana: median $141 across 29 hospitalsIN$141Ohio: median $225 across 46 hospitalsOH$225Pennsylvania: median $190 across 51 hospitalsPA$190New Jersey: median $118 across 26 hospitalsNJ$118Connecticut: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $373 across 121 hospitalsCA$373Utah: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $263 across 13 hospitalsCO$263Nebraska: median $216 across 26 hospitalsNE$216Missouri: median $281 across 24 hospitalsMO$281Kentucky: median $171 across 21 hospitalsKY$171West Virginia: median $235 across 15 hospitalsWV$235Virginia: median $208 across 33 hospitalsVA$208Maryland: median $225 across 22 hospitalsMD$225Delaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $144 across 21 hospitalsAZ$144New Mexico: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $215 across 29 hospitalsKS$215Arkansas: median $124 across 13 hospitalsAR$124Tennessee: median $66 across 19 hospitalsTN$66North Carolina: median $160 across 32 hospitalsNC$160South Carolina: median $54 across 10 hospitalsSC$54Oklahoma: median $105 across 30 hospitalsOK$105Louisiana: median $114 across 18 hospitalsLA$114Mississippi: median $94 across 12 hospitalsMS$94Alabama: median $123 across 13 hospitalsAL$123Georgia: median $136 across 38 hospitalsGA$136Hawaii: median $207 across 11 hospitalsHI$207Texas: median $230 across 82 hospitalsTX$230Florida: median $349 across 43 hospitalsFL$349
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $194. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA121$373+92%$172 – $739
Florida FL43$349+79%$194 – $1,657
Missouri MO24$281+44%$103 – $339
Massachusetts MA21$277+42%$196 – $403
Colorado CO13$263+35%$225 – $322
Minnesota MN27$253+30%$139 – $283
West Virginia WV15$235+21%$115 – $422
Wisconsin WI35$234+20%$103 – $272
Texas TX82$230+18%$156 – $461
Maryland MD22$225+16%$148 – $319
Ohio OH46$225+16%$174 – $374
Nebraska NE26$216+11%$150 – $288
Kansas KS29$215+11%$98 – $331
Virginia VA33$208+7%$106 – $293
Hawaii HI11$207+7%$169 – $461
Washington WA41$1950%$122 – $284
Pennsylvania PA51$190−2%$110 – $1,282
Maine ME16$188−3%$134 – $457
Kentucky KY21$171−12%$119 – $220
North Carolina NC32$160−18%$99 – $233
Arizona AZ21$144−26%$121 – $289
Indiana IN29$141−27%$94 – $236
Illinois IL35$139−28%$58 – $356
Iowa IA30$136−30%$23 – $255
Georgia GA38$136−30%$25 – $145
New York NY42$126−35%$99 – $290
Arkansas AR13$124−36%$32 – $208
Alabama AL13$123−37%$79 – $201
New Jersey NJ26$118−39%$112 – $135
Louisiana LA18$114−42%$64 – $237
Oklahoma OK30$105−46%$15 – $302
Michigan MI25$103−47%$91 – $147
Mississippi MS12$94−52%$77 – $193
Tennessee TN19$66−66%$34 – $66
Oregon OR16$54−72%$20 – $324
South Carolina SC10$54−72%$12 – $185
Montana MT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Connecticut CT1not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not 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 $194.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care856$192$98 – $359
Children’s29$208$121 – $403
Critical access265$211$122 – $333
Ownership
For-profit163$275$113 – $681
Government191$173$93 – $298
Non-profit796$193$103 – $336
System affiliation
Part of a system957$193$104 – $349
Independent197$206$93 – $373

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$343
Median cash price$194
Cash as a share of list, median hospital60%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 40%. 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

781 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $213 and the average of the middle 60% is $219; most fall between $104 and $364.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 781 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
$66$128$213$331$590

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.9× what the cheapest tenth charges ($66 vs $590).

Of the 884 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 781 gave a usable cash price; 60 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 43 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,154 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (29%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,305 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,154
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here106
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded45
Hospitals that filed this code1,305

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 July 20, 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 diagnostic radiology and related techniques family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Radiologic Exam Mastoids < 3 Views per Side|PROFESSIONAL COMPONENT.

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, “Limited X-ray of the mastoid bones behind the ear (CPT 70120) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-70120-limited-x-ray-of-the-mastoid-bones-behind-the-ear