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Procedure price report · Computerized axial tomography (CT) scan head

CT scan of the eye socket or inner ear with contrast

CPT 70481the billing code this page is about

A CT scan of the eye sockets, inner ear, or base-of-skull area taken after contrast dye is given.

Hospitals typically charge $1,384 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,208 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,445. Most fall between $680 and $2,549 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,208
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 3,208 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
$441$792$1,384$2,183$3,774

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.6× what the cheapest tenth charges ($441 vs $3,774).

How the prices are spread

$273 – $370: 86 hospitals$273$370 – $503: 165 hospitals$503 – $682: 234 hospitals$503$682 – $926: 327 hospitals$926 – $1,257: 413 hospitals$926$1,257 – $1,706: 609 hospitals$1,706 – $2,316: 469 hospitals$1,706$2,316 – $3,143: 299 hospitals$3,143 – $4,266: 179 hospitals$3,143$4,266 – $5,790: 107 hospitals$4,266median $1,384price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,888 of 3,208 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$273$37086
$370$503165
$503$682234
$682$926327
$926$1,257413
$1,257$1,706609
$1,706$2,316469
$2,316$3,143299
$3,143$4,266179
$4,266$5,790107

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$179
Median cash price$1,384
Cash as a multiple of Medicare7.7×

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 $1,384.

Alaska: median $2,211 across 17 hospitalsAK$2,211Maine: median $849 across 25 hospitalsME$849Vermont: median $2,160 across 12 hospitalsVT$2,160New Hampshire: median $1,333 across 20 hospitalsNH$1,333Washington: median $1,362 across 66 hospitalsWA$1,362Idaho: median $1,093 across 21 hospitalsID$1,093Montana: median $1,422 across 17 hospitalsMT$1,422North Dakota: median $1,615 across 28 hospitalsND$1,615Minnesota: median $1,294 across 93 hospitalsMN$1,294Illinois: median $1,959 across 132 hospitalsIL$1,959Wisconsin: median $1,386 across 106 hospitalsWI$1,386Michigan: median $1,289 across 83 hospitalsMI$1,289New York: median $846 across 99 hospitalsNY$846Massachusetts: median $1,339 across 52 hospitalsMA$1,339Oregon: median $1,312 across 45 hospitalsOR$1,312Nevada: median $1,296 across 21 hospitalsNV$1,296Wyoming: median $1,964 across 14 hospitalsWY$1,964South Dakota: median $2,585 across 30 hospitalsSD$2,585Iowa: median $1,525 across 76 hospitalsIA$1,525Indiana: median $874 across 95 hospitalsIN$874Ohio: median $1,059 across 141 hospitalsOH$1,059Pennsylvania: median $1,295 across 113 hospitalsPA$1,295New Jersey: median $329 across 57 hospitalsNJ$329Connecticut: median $1,063 across 19 hospitalsCT$1,063Rhode Island: median $1,260 across 10 hospitalsRI$1,260California: median $2,444 across 210 hospitalsCA$2,444Utah: median $1,513 across 39 hospitalsUT$1,513Colorado: median $1,718 across 62 hospitalsCO$1,718Nebraska: median $2,378 across 75 hospitalsNE$2,378Missouri: median $1,235 across 75 hospitalsMO$1,235Kentucky: median $1,185 across 63 hospitalsKY$1,185West Virginia: median $1,097 across 39 hospitalsWV$1,097Virginia: median $1,154 across 70 hospitalsVA$1,154Maryland: median $273 across 37 hospitalsMD$273Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $1,187 across 53 hospitalsAZ$1,187New Mexico: median $1,363 across 27 hospitalsNM$1,363Kansas: median $1,163 across 73 hospitalsKS$1,163Arkansas: median $637 across 35 hospitalsAR$637Tennessee: median $673 across 74 hospitalsTN$673North Carolina: median $1,619 across 91 hospitalsNC$1,619South Carolina: median $1,912 across 53 hospitalsSC$1,912Oklahoma: median $1,050 across 64 hospitalsOK$1,050Louisiana: median $734 across 51 hospitalsLA$734Mississippi: median $815 across 48 hospitalsMS$815Alabama: median $1,084 across 42 hospitalsAL$1,084Georgia: median $1,375 across 106 hospitalsGA$1,375Hawaii: median $1,348 across 17 hospitalsHI$1,348Texas: median $1,664 across 235 hospitalsTX$1,664Florida: median $3,337 across 171 hospitalsFL$3,337
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,384. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL171$3,337+141%$1,202 – $10,768
South Dakota SD30$2,585+87%$2,342 – $2,994
California CA210$2,444+77%$1,307 – $4,454
Nebraska NE75$2,378+72%$1,715 – $2,916
Alaska AK17$2,211+60%$1,388 – $3,017
Vermont VT12$2,160+56%$1,206 – $3,319
Wyoming WY14$1,964+42%$1,227 – $2,653
Illinois IL132$1,959+41%$934 – $3,143
South Carolina SC53$1,912+38%$970 – $1,975
Colorado CO62$1,718+24%$826 – $2,511
Texas TX235$1,664+20%$1,134 – $4,271
North Carolina NC91$1,619+17%$1,173 – $1,942
North Dakota ND28$1,615+17%$1,418 – $2,139
Iowa IA76$1,525+10%$1,198 – $1,970
Utah UT39$1,513+9%$1,300 – $2,223
Montana MT17$1,422+3%$943 – $1,981
Wisconsin WI106$1,3860%$633 – $1,849
Georgia GA106$1,375−1%$587 – $2,083
New Mexico NM27$1,363−2%$1,124 – $1,862
Washington WA66$1,362−2%$1,059 – $1,929
Hawaii HI17$1,348−3%$1,224 – $1,760
Massachusetts MA52$1,339−3%$809 – $2,207
New Hampshire NH20$1,333−4%$932 – $3,689
Oregon OR45$1,312−5%$990 – $1,937
Nevada NV21$1,296−6%$771 – $2,173
Pennsylvania PA113$1,295−6%$401 – $2,780
Minnesota MN93$1,294−6%$500 – $1,789
Michigan MI83$1,289−7%$552 – $2,207
Rhode Island RI10$1,260−9%$368 – $1,782
Missouri MO75$1,235−11%$794 – $2,134
Arizona AZ53$1,187−14%$398 – $5,265
Kentucky KY63$1,185−14%$791 – $2,551
Kansas KS73$1,163−16%$625 – $1,893
Virginia VA70$1,154−17%$715 – $2,648
West Virginia WV39$1,097−21%$745 – $2,000
Idaho ID21$1,093−21%$935 – $1,476
Alabama AL42$1,084−22%$515 – $1,704
Connecticut CT19$1,063−23%$696 – $1,974
Ohio OH141$1,059−24%$805 – $1,618
Oklahoma OK64$1,050−24%$547 – $1,650
Indiana IN95$874−37%$508 – $1,584
Maine ME25$849−39%$382 – $1,584
New York NY99$846−39%$212 – $2,491
Mississippi MS48$815−41%$622 – $1,187
Louisiana LA51$734−47%$444 – $1,333
Tennessee TN74$673−51%$371 – $1,275
Arkansas AR35$637−54%$384 – $814
New Jersey NJ57$329−76%$210 – $1,056
Maryland MD37$273−80%$199 – $383
Delaware DE6not 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 $1,384.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,323$1,347$625 – $2,730
Children’s62$2,178$1,512 – $3,561
Critical access813$1,453$792 – $2,210
Ownership
For-profit472$1,929$769 – $7,768
Government556$1,348$652 – $2,117
Non-profit2,170$1,345$650 – $2,343
System affiliation
Part of a system2,659$1,401$691 – $2,644
Independent549$1,294$647 – $2,174

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,382
Median cash price$1,384
Cash as a share of list, median hospital64%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 36%. 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

2,179 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,459 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,496; most fall between $746 and $2,501.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,179 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
$514$856$1,459$2,189$3,423

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.7× what the cheapest tenth charges ($514 vs $3,423).

Of the 2,422 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,179 gave a usable cash price; 136 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 107 a list price only.

How complete is this

3,208 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (81%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,555 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,208
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here229
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded117
Hospitals that filed this code3,555

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 Computerized axial tomography (CT) scan head family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as CT Orbit Sella/Post Fossa/Ear W/Contrast Matrl|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, “CT scan of the eye socket or inner ear with contrast (CPT 70481) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-70481-ct-scan-of-the-eye-socket-or-inner-ear-with-contrast