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Procedure price report · Other CT scan

CT scan of the soft tissues of the neck with contrast

CPT 70491the billing code this page is about

A CT scan of the soft tissues of the neck, such as glands, muscles, and airway, taken after contrast dye is given.

Hospitals typically charge $1,445 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,357 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,504. Most fall between $710 and $2,598 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,357
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 3,357 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
$443$844$1,445$2,299$3,634

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.2× what the cheapest tenth charges ($443 vs $3,634).

How the prices are spread

$272 – $370: 83 hospitals$272$370 – $504: 148 hospitals$504 – $685: 245 hospitals$504$685 – $932: 315 hospitals$932 – $1,269: 491 hospitals$932$1,269 – $1,726: 566 hospitals$1,726 – $2,349: 524 hospitals$1,726$2,349 – $3,196: 380 hospitals$3,196 – $4,349: 175 hospitals$3,196$4,349 – $5,918: 96 hospitals$4,349median $1,445price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (3,023 of 3,357 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$272$37083
$370$504148
$504$685245
$685$932315
$932$1,269491
$1,269$1,726566
$1,726$2,349524
$2,349$3,196380
$3,196$4,349175
$4,349$5,91896

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$179
Median cash price$1,445
Cash as a multiple of Medicare8.1×

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 $1,445.

Alaska: median $2,183 across 17 hospitalsAK$2,183Maine: median $876 across 25 hospitalsME$876Vermont: median $2,188 across 12 hospitalsVT$2,188New Hampshire: median $1,467 across 22 hospitalsNH$1,467Washington: median $1,363 across 70 hospitalsWA$1,363Idaho: median $1,093 across 22 hospitalsID$1,093Montana: median $1,466 across 19 hospitalsMT$1,466North Dakota: median $1,436 across 31 hospitalsND$1,436Minnesota: median $1,084 across 101 hospitalsMN$1,084Illinois: median $2,066 across 136 hospitalsIL$2,066Wisconsin: median $1,440 across 109 hospitalsWI$1,440Michigan: median $1,333 across 86 hospitalsMI$1,333New York: median $783 across 112 hospitalsNY$783Massachusetts: median $1,533 across 53 hospitalsMA$1,533Oregon: median $1,414 across 46 hospitalsOR$1,414Nevada: median $1,750 across 21 hospitalsNV$1,750Wyoming: median $1,820 across 14 hospitalsWY$1,820South Dakota: median $2,990 across 43 hospitalsSD$2,990Iowa: median $1,604 across 88 hospitalsIA$1,604Indiana: median $821 across 94 hospitalsIN$821Ohio: median $1,182 across 142 hospitalsOH$1,182Pennsylvania: median $1,293 across 113 hospitalsPA$1,293New Jersey: median $507 across 57 hospitalsNJ$507Connecticut: median $1,523 across 19 hospitalsCT$1,523Rhode Island: median $1,260 across 10 hospitalsRI$1,260California: median $2,468 across 217 hospitalsCA$2,468Utah: median $1,831 across 42 hospitalsUT$1,831Colorado: median $1,411 across 66 hospitalsCO$1,411Nebraska: median $2,400 across 82 hospitalsNE$2,400Missouri: median $1,226 across 75 hospitalsMO$1,226Kentucky: median $1,345 across 67 hospitalsKY$1,345West Virginia: median $1,097 across 42 hospitalsWV$1,097Virginia: median $1,376 across 71 hospitalsVA$1,376Maryland: median $221 across 37 hospitalsMD$221Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $1,200 across 53 hospitalsAZ$1,200New Mexico: median $1,385 across 29 hospitalsNM$1,385Kansas: median $1,115 across 87 hospitalsKS$1,115Arkansas: median $604 across 38 hospitalsAR$604Tennessee: median $807 across 78 hospitalsTN$807North Carolina: median $1,667 across 95 hospitalsNC$1,667South Carolina: median $1,730 across 53 hospitalsSC$1,730Oklahoma: median $1,071 across 71 hospitalsOK$1,071Louisiana: median $750 across 55 hospitalsLA$750Mississippi: median $904 across 49 hospitalsMS$904Alabama: median $1,192 across 42 hospitalsAL$1,192Georgia: median $1,082 across 108 hospitalsGA$1,082Hawaii: median $1,381 across 17 hospitalsHI$1,381Texas: median $2,048 across 242 hospitalsTX$2,048Florida: median $3,207 across 173 hospitalsFL$3,207
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,445. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL173$3,207+122%$1,229 – $10,598
South Dakota SD43$2,990+107%$2,502 – $3,494
California CA217$2,468+71%$1,243 – $3,976
Nebraska NE82$2,400+66%$1,639 – $2,841
Vermont VT12$2,188+51%$1,358 – $3,082
Alaska AK17$2,183+51%$1,415 – $3,255
Illinois IL136$2,066+43%$1,051 – $3,160
Texas TX242$2,048+42%$1,063 – $3,662
Utah UT42$1,831+27%$1,661 – $2,205
Wyoming WY14$1,820+26%$814 – $2,778
Nevada NV21$1,750+21%$755 – $2,769
South Carolina SC53$1,730+20%$1,138 – $2,396
North Carolina NC95$1,667+15%$1,139 – $2,391
Iowa IA88$1,604+11%$1,198 – $2,139
Massachusetts MA53$1,533+6%$873 – $2,143
Connecticut CT19$1,523+5%$705 – $1,974
New Hampshire NH22$1,467+2%$1,017 – $3,140
Montana MT19$1,466+1%$1,098 – $1,950
Wisconsin WI109$1,4400%$605 – $1,760
North Dakota ND31$1,436−1%$1,193 – $1,690
Oregon OR46$1,414−2%$1,073 – $1,900
Colorado CO66$1,411−2%$1,011 – $2,973
New Mexico NM29$1,385−4%$992 – $2,009
Hawaii HI17$1,381−4%$1,177 – $1,748
Virginia VA71$1,376−5%$853 – $2,694
Washington WA70$1,363−6%$810 – $2,118
Kentucky KY67$1,345−7%$773 – $2,478
Michigan MI86$1,333−8%$570 – $2,038
Pennsylvania PA113$1,293−11%$295 – $2,917
Rhode Island RI10$1,260−13%$419 – $1,782
Missouri MO75$1,226−15%$817 – $2,158
Arizona AZ53$1,200−17%$327 – $6,159
Alabama AL42$1,192−17%$638 – $2,247
Ohio OH142$1,182−18%$798 – $1,730
Kansas KS87$1,115−23%$676 – $1,946
West Virginia WV42$1,097−24%$763 – $1,964
Idaho ID22$1,093−24%$974 – $1,574
Minnesota MN101$1,084−25%$596 – $1,824
Georgia GA108$1,082−25%$809 – $1,992
Oklahoma OK71$1,071−26%$905 – $1,594
Mississippi MS49$904−37%$639 – $1,137
Maine ME25$876−39%$410 – $1,574
Indiana IN94$821−43%$462 – $1,681
Tennessee TN78$807−44%$371 – $1,462
New York NY112$783−46%$253 – $2,504
Louisiana LA55$750−48%$387 – $1,421
Arkansas AR38$604−58%$384 – $1,430
New Jersey NJ57$507−65%$210 – $1,033
Maryland MD37$221−85%$161 – $310
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 $1,445.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,362$1,420$632 – $2,871
Children’s63$2,014$1,381 – $2,877
Critical access922$1,454$859 – $2,306
Ownership
For-profit485$2,134$935 – $7,709
Government607$1,392$718 – $2,179
Non-profit2,255$1,399$657 – $2,414
System affiliation
Part of a system2,764$1,476$715 – $2,722
Independent593$1,375$679 – $2,235

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,442
Median cash price$1,445
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

2,278 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,515 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,562; most fall between $789 and $2,611.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,278 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
$537$922$1,515$2,382$3,265

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($537 vs $3,265).

Of the 2,534 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,278 gave a usable cash price; 146 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 110 a list price only.

How complete is this

3,357 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (85%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,712 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,357
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here233
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 — excluded121
Hospitals that filed this code3,712

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 CT scan family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as CT Soft Tissue Neck W/Contrast Material|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 soft tissues of the neck with contrast (CPT 70491) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-70491-ct-scan-of-the-soft-tissues-of-the-neck-with-contrast