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Procedure price report · Magnetic resonance imaging

MRI of the brain with and without contrast

CPT 70553the billing code this page is about

Magnetic resonance imaging of the brain, with images taken both before and after contrast dye is given through a vein.

Hospitals typically charge $2,614 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,265 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,694. Most fall between $1,267 and $4,516 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,265
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 3,265 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
$756$1,494$2,614$4,091$6,260

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.3× what the cheapest tenth charges ($756 vs $6,260).

How the prices are spread

$511 – $683: 113 hospitals$511$683 – $913: 169 hospitals$913 – $1,221: 188 hospitals$913$1,221 – $1,632: 288 hospitals$1,632 – $2,181: 396 hospitals$1,632$2,181 – $2,915: 535 hospitals$2,915 – $3,897: 502 hospitals$2,915$3,897 – $5,209: 432 hospitals$5,209 – $6,964: 203 hospitals$5,209$6,964 – $9,309: 114 hospitals$6,964median $2,614price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,940 of 3,265 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$511$683113
$683$913169
$913$1,221188
$1,221$1,632288
$1,632$2,181396
$2,181$2,915535
$2,915$3,897502
$3,897$5,209432
$5,209$6,964203
$6,964$9,309114

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$356
Median cash price$2,614
Cash as a multiple of Medicare7.3×

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 $2,614.

Alaska: median $4,027 across 14 hospitalsAK$4,027Maine: median $1,685 across 24 hospitalsME$1,685Vermont: median $5,007 across 11 hospitalsVT$5,007New Hampshire: median $3,367 across 22 hospitalsNH$3,367Washington: median $2,425 across 70 hospitalsWA$2,425Idaho: median $2,263 across 22 hospitalsID$2,263Montana: median $2,854 across 16 hospitalsMT$2,854North Dakota: median $2,895 across 31 hospitalsND$2,895Minnesota: median $2,239 across 101 hospitalsMN$2,239Illinois: median $3,823 across 136 hospitalsIL$3,823Wisconsin: median $2,721 across 108 hospitalsWI$2,721Michigan: median $2,563 across 82 hospitalsMI$2,563New York: median $1,512 across 111 hospitalsNY$1,512Massachusetts: median $3,158 across 51 hospitalsMA$3,158Oregon: median $2,672 across 46 hospitalsOR$2,672Nevada: median $2,115 across 18 hospitalsNV$2,115Wyoming: median $2,950 across 13 hospitalsWY$2,950South Dakota: median $4,500 across 37 hospitalsSD$4,500Iowa: median $3,315 across 86 hospitalsIA$3,315Indiana: median $1,250 across 95 hospitalsIN$1,250Ohio: median $2,130 across 127 hospitalsOH$2,130Pennsylvania: median $2,205 across 116 hospitalsPA$2,205New Jersey: median $826 across 58 hospitalsNJ$826Connecticut: median $2,504 across 21 hospitalsCT$2,504Rhode Island: median $2,127 across 10 hospitalsRI$2,127California: median $4,257 across 217 hospitalsCA$4,257Utah: median $3,719 across 42 hospitalsUT$3,719Colorado: median $2,616 across 65 hospitalsCO$2,616Nebraska: median $3,924 across 84 hospitalsNE$3,924Missouri: median $2,359 across 76 hospitalsMO$2,359Kentucky: median $2,520 across 67 hospitalsKY$2,520West Virginia: median $2,005 across 40 hospitalsWV$2,005Virginia: median $2,582 across 71 hospitalsVA$2,582Maryland: median $917 across 37 hospitalsMD$917Delaware: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $1,878 across 49 hospitalsAZ$1,878New Mexico: median $2,624 across 29 hospitalsNM$2,624Kansas: median $1,634 across 85 hospitalsKS$1,634Arkansas: median $906 across 32 hospitalsAR$906Tennessee: median $1,339 across 78 hospitalsTN$1,339North Carolina: median $2,764 across 88 hospitalsNC$2,764South Carolina: median $2,913 across 52 hospitalsSC$2,913Oklahoma: median $1,444 across 62 hospitalsOK$1,444Louisiana: median $1,507 across 53 hospitalsLA$1,507Mississippi: median $1,727 across 49 hospitalsMS$1,727Alabama: median $2,361 across 38 hospitalsAL$2,361Georgia: median $2,433 across 104 hospitalsGA$2,433Hawaii: median $1,945 across 12 hospitalsHI$1,945Texas: median $3,021 across 233 hospitalsTX$3,021Florida: median $4,880 across 171 hospitalsFL$4,880
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,614. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Vermont VT11$5,007+92%$3,958 – $6,065
Florida FL171$4,880+87%$1,654 – $11,636
South Dakota SD37$4,500+72%$4,156 – $5,274
California CA217$4,257+63%$2,005 – $7,451
Alaska AK14$4,027+54%$2,399 – $5,894
Nebraska NE84$3,924+50%$2,699 – $4,627
Illinois IL136$3,823+46%$2,020 – $5,385
Utah UT42$3,719+42%$2,704 – $4,375
New Hampshire NH22$3,367+29%$2,349 – $6,280
Iowa IA86$3,315+27%$2,300 – $4,428
Massachusetts MA51$3,158+21%$1,909 – $4,533
Texas TX233$3,021+16%$1,616 – $6,093
Wyoming WY13$2,950+13%$1,201 – $4,070
South Carolina SC52$2,913+11%$1,916 – $4,342
North Dakota ND31$2,895+11%$2,393 – $3,730
Montana MT16$2,854+9%$2,244 – $3,548
North Carolina NC88$2,764+6%$1,929 – $4,130
Wisconsin WI108$2,721+4%$1,075 – $3,513
Oregon OR46$2,672+2%$2,095 – $4,037
New Mexico NM29$2,6240%$1,632 – $4,091
Colorado CO65$2,6160%$1,354 – $3,938
Virginia VA71$2,582−1%$1,746 – $4,622
Michigan MI82$2,563−2%$1,481 – $5,097
Kentucky KY67$2,520−4%$1,325 – $4,603
Connecticut CT21$2,504−4%$1,678 – $2,754
Georgia GA104$2,433−7%$1,512 – $5,237
Washington WA70$2,425−7%$1,152 – $3,636
Alabama AL38$2,361−10%$1,166 – $4,320
Missouri MO76$2,359−10%$1,403 – $3,400
Idaho ID22$2,263−13%$2,075 – $3,015
Minnesota MN101$2,239−14%$1,041 – $3,495
Pennsylvania PA116$2,205−16%$702 – $5,653
Ohio OH127$2,130−19%$1,495 – $3,060
Rhode Island RI10$2,127−19%$902 – $3,600
Nevada NV18$2,115−19%$1,857 – $5,307
West Virginia WV40$2,005−23%$1,513 – $4,512
Hawaii HI12$1,945−26%$1,636 – $2,273
Arizona AZ49$1,878−28%$618 – $4,947
Mississippi MS49$1,727−34%$959 – $2,196
Maine ME24$1,685−36%$770 – $3,198
Kansas KS85$1,634−37%$779 – $3,556
New York NY111$1,512−42%$528 – $4,919
Louisiana LA53$1,507−42%$794 – $2,454
Oklahoma OK62$1,444−45%$1,169 – $2,662
Tennessee TN78$1,339−49%$669 – $2,874
Indiana IN95$1,250−52%$753 – $2,920
Maryland MD37$917−65%$563 – $1,267
Arkansas AR32$906−65%$584 – $1,810
New Jersey NJ58$826−68%$421 – $2,090
Delaware DE5not 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 $2,614.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,330$2,480$1,132 – $4,781
Children’s66$3,275$2,187 – $6,095
Critical access859$2,855$1,510 – $4,249
Ownership
For-profit476$3,569$1,528 – $11,085
Government576$2,520$1,237 – $3,998
Non-profit2,203$2,513$1,217 – $4,324
System affiliation
Part of a system2,686$2,659$1,302 – $4,598
Independent579$2,440$1,080 – $3,960

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$4,494
Median cash price$2,614
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

2,226 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $2,685 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,787; most fall between $1,429 and $4,522.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,226 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
$827$1,621$2,685$4,174$5,737

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.9× what the cheapest tenth charges ($827 vs $5,737).

Of the 2,468 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,226 gave a usable cash price; 133 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 109 a list price only.

How complete is this

3,265 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (83%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,615 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,265
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here226
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded4
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded120
Hospitals that filed this code3,615

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 Magnetic resonance imaging family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as MRI Brain Brain Stem W/O 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, “MRI of the brain with and without contrast (CPT 70553) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-70553-mri-of-the-brain-with-and-without-contrast