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Procedure price report · Other diagnostic radiology and related techniques

X-ray of the spine, single view

CPT 72020the billing code this page is about

A single X-ray view of one specified level of the spine.

Hospitals typically charge $206 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,176 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $217. Most fall between $106 and $367 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,176
States
50
Filings dated
Dec 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 3,176 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
$73$124$206$328$545

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.5× what the cheapest tenth charges ($73 vs $545).

How the prices are spread

$56 – $74: 175 hospitals$56$74 – $97: 203 hospitals$97 – $128: 302 hospitals$97$128 – $168: 396 hospitals$168 – $221: 475 hospitals$168$221 – $291: 481 hospitals$291 – $383: 396 hospitals$291$383 – $504: 236 hospitals$504 – $664: 109 hospitals$504$664 – $874: 87 hospitals$664median $206price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,860 of 3,176 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$56$74175
$74$97203
$97$128302
$128$168396
$168$221475
$221$291481
$291$383396
$383$504236
$504$664109
$664$87487

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$89
Median cash price$206
Cash as a multiple of Medicare2.3×

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 $206.

Alaska: median $232 across 17 hospitalsAK$232Maine: median $148 across 25 hospitalsME$148Vermont: median $357 across 12 hospitalsVT$357New Hampshire: median $213 across 19 hospitalsNH$213Washington: median $197 across 67 hospitalsWA$197Idaho: median $277 across 18 hospitalsID$277Montana: median $166 across 19 hospitalsMT$166North Dakota: median $144 across 30 hospitalsND$144Minnesota: median $164 across 90 hospitalsMN$164Illinois: median $242 across 118 hospitalsIL$242Wisconsin: median $166 across 105 hospitalsWI$166Michigan: median $153 across 81 hospitalsMI$153New York: median $130 across 105 hospitalsNY$130Massachusetts: median $249 across 49 hospitalsMA$249Oregon: median $212 across 45 hospitalsOR$212Nevada: median $226 across 18 hospitalsNV$226Wyoming: median $167 across 14 hospitalsWY$167South Dakota: median $381 across 35 hospitalsSD$381Iowa: median $159 across 75 hospitalsIA$159Indiana: median $166 across 89 hospitalsIN$166Ohio: median $216 across 138 hospitalsOH$216Pennsylvania: median $190 across 116 hospitalsPA$190New Jersey: median $112 across 57 hospitalsNJ$112Connecticut: median $274 across 21 hospitalsCT$274Rhode Island: median $213 across 10 hospitalsRI$213California: median $329 across 216 hospitalsCA$329Utah: median $317 across 39 hospitalsUT$317Colorado: median $238 across 60 hospitalsCO$238Nebraska: median $237 across 73 hospitalsNE$237Missouri: median $180 across 73 hospitalsMO$180Kentucky: median $243 across 65 hospitalsKY$243West Virginia: median $173 across 37 hospitalsWV$173Virginia: median $281 across 71 hospitalsVA$281Maryland: median $127 across 39 hospitalsMD$127Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $115 across 52 hospitalsAZ$115New Mexico: median $194 across 24 hospitalsNM$194Kansas: median $216 across 73 hospitalsKS$216Arkansas: median $101 across 35 hospitalsAR$101Tennessee: median $109 across 76 hospitalsTN$109North Carolina: median $219 across 92 hospitalsNC$219South Carolina: median $261 across 52 hospitalsSC$261Oklahoma: median $175 across 65 hospitalsOK$175Louisiana: median $109 across 53 hospitalsLA$109Mississippi: median $97 across 49 hospitalsMS$97Alabama: median $146 across 41 hospitalsAL$146Georgia: median $180 across 98 hospitalsGA$180Hawaii: median $260 across 19 hospitalsHI$260Texas: median $283 across 228 hospitalsTX$283Florida: median $485 across 167 hospitalsFL$485
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $206. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL167$485+135%$235 – $1,482
South Dakota SD35$381+85%$262 – $416
Vermont VT12$357+73%$166 – $397
California CA216$329+60%$171 – $535
Utah UT39$317+54%$217 – $317
Texas TX228$283+37%$165 – $536
Virginia VA71$281+36%$147 – $442
Idaho ID18$277+34%$187 – $365
Connecticut CT21$274+33%$134 – $305
South Carolina SC52$261+26%$98 – $338
Hawaii HI19$260+26%$199 – $340
Massachusetts MA49$249+21%$158 – $322
Kentucky KY65$243+18%$107 – $357
Illinois IL118$242+18%$125 – $450
Colorado CO60$238+16%$142 – $356
Nebraska NE73$237+15%$166 – $336
Alaska AK17$232+13%$120 – $471
Nevada NV18$226+10%$94 – $382
North Carolina NC92$219+6%$151 – $292
Kansas KS73$216+5%$135 – $374
Ohio OH138$216+5%$167 – $360
New Hampshire NH19$213+4%$120 – $570
Rhode Island RI10$213+3%$94 – $286
Oregon OR45$212+3%$87 – $290
Washington WA67$197−5%$119 – $287
New Mexico NM24$194−6%$100 – $295
Pennsylvania PA116$190−8%$103 – $419
Georgia GA98$180−13%$67 – $317
Missouri MO73$180−13%$130 – $309
Oklahoma OK65$175−15%$114 – $269
West Virginia WV37$173−16%$97 – $259
Wyoming WY14$167−19%$63 – $278
Indiana IN89$166−19%$116 – $253
Wisconsin WI105$166−19%$71 – $255
Montana MT19$166−20%$96 – $224
Minnesota MN90$164−20%$96 – $225
Iowa IA75$159−23%$120 – $219
Michigan MI81$153−26%$94 – $235
Maine ME25$148−28%$85 – $289
Alabama AL41$146−29%$86 – $273
North Dakota ND30$144−30%$86 – $176
New York NY105$130−37%$67 – $306
Maryland MD39$127−38%$85 – $169
Arizona AZ52$115−44%$62 – $1,073
New Jersey NJ57$112−46%$89 – $189
Tennessee TN76$109−47%$65 – $190
Louisiana LA53$109−47%$62 – $200
Arkansas AR35$101−51%$73 – $184
Mississippi MS49$97−53%$49 – $160
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 $206.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,310$215$106 – $404
Children’s67$285$167 – $428
Critical access789$186$102 – $295
Ownership
For-profit473$289$122 – $943
Government539$186$103 – $287
Non-profit2,154$201$104 – $356
System affiliation
Part of a system2,637$214$111 – $382
Independent539$186$87 – $300

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$348
Median cash price$206
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

2,189 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $222 and the average of the middle 60% is $230; most fall between $120 and $367.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,189 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
$77$139$222$334$498

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.5× what the cheapest tenth charges ($77 vs $498).

Of the 2,424 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,189 gave a usable cash price; 129 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 106 a list price only.

How complete is this

3,176 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (80%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,519 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,176
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here225
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 code3,519

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 diagnostic radiology and related techniques family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Radex Spine 1 View Specify Level|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, “X-ray of the spine, single view (CPT 72020) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-72020-x-ray-of-the-spine-single-view