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Procedure price report · Magnetic resonance imaging

MRI of the chest without contrast

CPT 71550the billing code this page is about

Magnetic resonance imaging of the chest performed without injected contrast material.

Hospitals typically charge $1,726 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,006 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,798. Most fall between $849 and $3,092 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,006
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 3,006 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
$545$996$1,726$2,795$4,414

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($545 vs $4,414).

How the prices are spread

$328 – $443: 64 hospitals$328$443 – $597: 150 hospitals$597 – $805: 202 hospitals$597$805 – $1,086: 297 hospitals$1,086 – $1,465: 381 hospitals$1,086$1,465 – $1,977: 494 hospitals$1,977 – $2,666: 452 hospitals$1,977$2,666 – $3,597: 359 hospitals$3,597 – $4,852: 210 hospitals$3,597$4,852 – $6,545: 97 hospitals$4,852median $1,726price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,706 of 3,006 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$328$44364
$443$597150
$597$805202
$805$1,086297
$1,086$1,465381
$1,465$1,977494
$1,977$2,666452
$2,666$3,597359
$3,597$4,852210
$4,852$6,54597

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$244
Median cash price$1,726
Cash as a multiple of Medicare7.1×

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 $1,726.

Alaska: median $2,574 across 13 hospitalsAK$2,574Maine: median $1,176 across 24 hospitalsME$1,176Vermont: median $2,671 across 11 hospitalsVT$2,671New Hampshire: median $1,822 across 18 hospitalsNH$1,822Washington: median $1,693 across 66 hospitalsWA$1,693Idaho: median $1,857 across 20 hospitalsID$1,857Montana: median $2,028 across 15 hospitalsMT$2,028North Dakota: median $2,522 across 26 hospitalsND$2,522Minnesota: median $1,663 across 89 hospitalsMN$1,663Illinois: median $2,621 across 128 hospitalsIL$2,621Wisconsin: median $2,110 across 99 hospitalsWI$2,110Michigan: median $1,658 across 77 hospitalsMI$1,658New York: median $1,123 across 96 hospitalsNY$1,123Massachusetts: median $2,312 across 48 hospitalsMA$2,312Oregon: median $1,662 across 42 hospitalsOR$1,662Nevada: median $1,648 across 17 hospitalsNV$1,648Wyoming: median $2,118 across 11 hospitalsWY$2,118South Dakota: median $2,910 across 19 hospitalsSD$2,910Iowa: median $2,035 across 65 hospitalsIA$2,035Indiana: median $1,050 across 92 hospitalsIN$1,050Ohio: median $1,631 across 123 hospitalsOH$1,631Pennsylvania: median $1,656 across 114 hospitalsPA$1,656New Jersey: median $331 across 57 hospitalsNJ$331Connecticut: median $1,472 across 21 hospitalsCT$1,472Rhode Island: median $1,381 across 10 hospitalsRI$1,381California: median $2,563 across 211 hospitalsCA$2,563Utah: median $2,648 across 39 hospitalsUT$2,648Colorado: median $1,854 across 63 hospitalsCO$1,854Nebraska: median $2,766 across 69 hospitalsNE$2,766Missouri: median $1,570 across 70 hospitalsMO$1,570Kentucky: median $1,423 across 55 hospitalsKY$1,423West Virginia: median $1,618 across 35 hospitalsWV$1,618Virginia: median $1,818 across 63 hospitalsVA$1,818Maryland: median $1,043 across 36 hospitalsMD$1,043Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $921 across 48 hospitalsAZ$921New Mexico: median $1,569 across 24 hospitalsNM$1,569Kansas: median $1,350 across 75 hospitalsKS$1,350Arkansas: median $789 across 27 hospitalsAR$789Tennessee: median $755 across 74 hospitalsTN$755North Carolina: median $1,636 across 84 hospitalsNC$1,636South Carolina: median $2,026 across 50 hospitalsSC$2,026Oklahoma: median $1,034 across 52 hospitalsOK$1,034Louisiana: median $897 across 47 hospitalsLA$897Mississippi: median $947 across 47 hospitalsMS$947Alabama: median $1,697 across 37 hospitalsAL$1,697Georgia: median $1,548 across 92 hospitalsGA$1,548Hawaii: median $1,441 across 12 hospitalsHI$1,441Texas: median $1,746 across 225 hospitalsTX$1,746Florida: median $2,833 across 164 hospitalsFL$2,833
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,726. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
South Dakota SD19$2,910+69%$2,758 – $3,872
Florida FL164$2,833+64%$1,324 – $7,279
Nebraska NE69$2,766+60%$2,012 – $3,807
Vermont VT11$2,671+55%$2,016 – $3,657
Utah UT39$2,648+53%$2,147 – $3,115
Illinois IL128$2,621+52%$1,258 – $3,751
Alaska AK13$2,574+49%$1,338 – $5,162
California CA211$2,563+49%$1,260 – $4,995
North Dakota ND26$2,522+46%$1,828 – $3,001
Massachusetts MA48$2,312+34%$1,075 – $3,551
Wyoming WY11$2,118+23%$1,055 – $2,372
Wisconsin WI99$2,110+22%$1,004 – $2,657
Iowa IA65$2,035+18%$1,428 – $2,730
Montana MT15$2,028+18%$1,388 – $2,306
South Carolina SC50$2,026+17%$1,400 – $2,724
Idaho ID20$1,857+8%$1,385 – $1,923
Colorado CO63$1,854+7%$905 – $2,710
New Hampshire NH18$1,822+6%$1,356 – $6,133
Virginia VA63$1,818+5%$1,233 – $4,367
Texas TX225$1,746+1%$1,034 – $3,480
Alabama AL37$1,697−2%$846 – $3,575
Washington WA66$1,693−2%$1,295 – $2,560
Minnesota MN89$1,663−4%$801 – $2,654
Oregon OR42$1,662−4%$1,234 – $2,189
Michigan MI77$1,658−4%$984 – $3,318
Pennsylvania PA114$1,656−4%$457 – $3,802
Nevada NV17$1,648−5%$865 – $2,557
North Carolina NC84$1,636−5%$1,074 – $2,357
Ohio OH123$1,631−5%$1,084 – $2,282
West Virginia WV35$1,618−6%$1,114 – $2,718
Missouri MO70$1,570−9%$826 – $2,259
New Mexico NM24$1,569−9%$1,127 – $2,260
Georgia GA92$1,548−10%$860 – $2,562
Connecticut CT21$1,472−15%$1,047 – $3,245
Hawaii HI12$1,441−16%$1,265 – $2,299
Kentucky KY55$1,423−18%$870 – $3,258
Rhode Island RI10$1,381−20%$354 – $2,100
Kansas KS75$1,350−22%$760 – $2,510
Maine ME24$1,176−32%$477 – $2,346
New York NY96$1,123−35%$514 – $2,984
Indiana IN92$1,050−39%$583 – $2,363
Maryland MD36$1,043−40%$594 – $1,644
Oklahoma OK52$1,034−40%$493 – $1,846
Mississippi MS47$947−45%$552 – $1,346
Arizona AZ48$921−47%$328 – $3,217
Louisiana LA47$897−48%$453 – $1,620
Arkansas AR27$789−54%$584 – $1,345
Tennessee TN74$755−56%$531 – $1,594
New Jersey NJ57$331−81%$276 – $1,240
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 $1,726.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,227$1,621$784 – $3,244
Children’s63$2,387$1,636 – $3,731
Critical access706$1,904$1,004 – $2,896
Ownership
For-profit443$2,357$864 – $7,584
Government506$1,659$840 – $2,769
Non-profit2,047$1,662$849 – $2,899
System affiliation
Part of a system2,474$1,746$850 – $3,217
Independent532$1,641$833 – $2,799

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,959
Median cash price$1,726
Cash as a share of list, median hospital63%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 37%. 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

2,051 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,749 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,829; most fall between $923 and $3,019.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,051 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
$594$1,043$1,749$2,752$3,961

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.7× what the cheapest tenth charges ($594 vs $3,961).

Of the 2,263 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,051 gave a usable cash price; 109 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 103 a list price only.

How complete is this

3,006 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (76%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,323 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,006
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here200
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 — excluded113
Hospitals that filed this code3,323

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 Chest W/O Contrast Material.

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 chest without contrast (CPT 71550) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-71550-mri-of-the-chest-without-contrast