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Procedure price report · Routine chest X-ray

Chest X-ray, two views

CPT 71046the billing code this page is about

Chest X-ray consisting of two pictures, such as a front and a side view or side-lying views.

Hospitals typically charge $234 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,367 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $246. Most fall between $118 and $406 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,367
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 3,367 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
$86$139$234$375$625

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.3× what the cheapest tenth charges ($86 vs $625).

How the prices are spread

$61 – $81: 130 hospitals$61$81 – $107: 277 hospitals$107 – $141: 284 hospitals$107$141 – $187: 403 hospitals$187 – $247: 512 hospitals$187$247 – $327: 513 hospitals$327 – $432: 457 hospitals$327$432 – $571: 253 hospitals$571 – $755: 117 hospitals$571$755 – $999: 85 hospitals$755median $234price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (3,031 of 3,367 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$61$81130
$81$107277
$107$141284
$141$187403
$187$247512
$247$327513
$327$432457
$432$571253
$571$755117
$755$99985

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$89
Median cash price$234
Cash as a multiple of Medicare2.6×

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 $234.

Alaska: median $282 across 17 hospitalsAK$282Maine: median $182 across 25 hospitalsME$182Vermont: median $371 across 12 hospitalsVT$371New Hampshire: median $212 across 22 hospitalsNH$212Washington: median $263 across 71 hospitalsWA$263Idaho: median $277 across 22 hospitalsID$277Montana: median $191 across 20 hospitalsMT$191North Dakota: median $163 across 32 hospitalsND$163Minnesota: median $205 across 101 hospitalsMN$205Illinois: median $286 across 129 hospitalsIL$286Wisconsin: median $193 across 110 hospitalsWI$193Michigan: median $178 across 86 hospitalsMI$178New York: median $164 across 111 hospitalsNY$164Massachusetts: median $266 across 54 hospitalsMA$266Oregon: median $206 across 46 hospitalsOR$206Nevada: median $326 across 21 hospitalsNV$326Wyoming: median $253 across 14 hospitalsWY$253South Dakota: median $376 across 43 hospitalsSD$376Iowa: median $202 across 88 hospitalsIA$202Indiana: median $195 across 93 hospitalsIN$195Ohio: median $244 across 145 hospitalsOH$244Pennsylvania: median $205 across 116 hospitalsPA$205New Jersey: median $114 across 57 hospitalsNJ$114Connecticut: median $311 across 21 hospitalsCT$311Rhode Island: median $97 across 10 hospitalsRI$97California: median $413 across 217 hospitalsCA$413Utah: median $322 across 42 hospitalsUT$322Colorado: median $260 across 66 hospitalsCO$260Nebraska: median $317 across 82 hospitalsNE$317Missouri: median $260 across 77 hospitalsMO$260Kentucky: median $251 across 67 hospitalsKY$251West Virginia: median $189 across 43 hospitalsWV$189Virginia: median $234 across 71 hospitalsVA$234Maryland: median $176 across 39 hospitalsMD$176Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $95 across 54 hospitalsAZ$95New Mexico: median $227 across 29 hospitalsNM$227Kansas: median $219 across 89 hospitalsKS$219Arkansas: median $74 across 37 hospitalsAR$74Tennessee: median $116 across 77 hospitalsTN$116North Carolina: median $232 across 96 hospitalsNC$232South Carolina: median $273 across 53 hospitalsSC$273Oklahoma: median $178 across 70 hospitalsOK$178Louisiana: median $135 across 56 hospitalsLA$135Mississippi: median $116 across 50 hospitalsMS$116Alabama: median $177 across 42 hospitalsAL$177Georgia: median $182 across 107 hospitalsGA$182Hawaii: median $257 across 19 hospitalsHI$257Texas: median $389 across 240 hospitalsTX$389Florida: median $494 across 172 hospitalsFL$494
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $234. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL172$494+111%$186 – $1,684
California CA217$413+76%$230 – $797
Texas TX240$389+66%$179 – $972
South Dakota SD43$376+60%$279 – $640
Vermont VT12$371+58%$355 – $556
Nevada NV21$326+39%$118 – $532
Utah UT42$322+37%$302 – $375
Nebraska NE82$317+35%$155 – $403
Connecticut CT21$311+33%$118 – $374
Illinois IL129$286+22%$138 – $503
Alaska AK17$282+21%$209 – $716
Idaho ID22$277+18%$172 – $365
South Carolina SC53$273+17%$110 – $343
Massachusetts MA54$266+14%$198 – $357
Washington WA71$263+12%$154 – $332
Colorado CO66$260+11%$173 – $392
Missouri MO77$260+11%$143 – $349
Hawaii HI19$257+10%$230 – $354
Wyoming WY14$253+8%$87 – $345
Kentucky KY67$251+7%$155 – $362
Ohio OH145$244+4%$173 – $380
Virginia VA71$2340%$137 – $485
North Carolina NC96$232−1%$176 – $329
New Mexico NM29$227−3%$160 – $328
Kansas KS89$219−6%$147 – $288
New Hampshire NH22$212−10%$180 – $477
Oregon OR46$206−12%$101 – $343
Minnesota MN101$205−12%$139 – $300
Pennsylvania PA116$205−13%$100 – $426
Iowa IA88$202−14%$146 – $286
Indiana IN93$195−17%$107 – $284
Wisconsin WI110$193−18%$100 – $280
Montana MT20$191−19%$144 – $260
West Virginia WV43$189−19%$159 – $333
Georgia GA107$182−22%$119 – $427
Maine ME25$182−22%$103 – $391
Oklahoma OK70$178−24%$106 – $328
Michigan MI86$178−24%$106 – $342
Alabama AL42$177−24%$110 – $379
Maryland MD39$176−25%$120 – $226
New York NY111$164−30%$91 – $392
North Dakota ND32$163−31%$116 – $233
Louisiana LA56$135−42%$80 – $211
Mississippi MS50$116−50%$69 – $162
Tennessee TN77$116−51%$74 – $289
New Jersey NJ57$114−52%$98 – $231
Rhode Island RI10$97−58%$82 – $238
Arizona AZ54$95−59%$75 – $397
Arkansas AR37$74−68%$45 – $220
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 $234.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,365$240$114 – $455
Children’s69$330$201 – $501
Critical access923$221$123 – $355
Ownership
For-profit491$328$141 – $1,119
Government609$218$108 – $336
Non-profit2,257$232$118 – $393
System affiliation
Part of a system2,754$240$122 – $434
Independent613$213$100 – $348

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$393
Median cash price$234
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

2,323 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $253 and the average of the middle 60% is $263; most fall between $135 and $423.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,323 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
$91$152$253$389$559

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($91 vs $559).

Of the 2,581 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,323 gave a usable cash price; 147 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 111 a list price only.

How complete is this

3,367 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 3,744 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,367
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here252
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 — excluded124
Hospitals that filed this code3,744

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 Routine chest X-ray family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Radiologic Exam Chest 2 Views|TECHNICAL 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, “Chest X-ray, two views (CPT 71046) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-71046-chest-x-ray-two-views