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Procedure price report · Other CT scan

CT scan of the neck spine with contrast

CPT 72126the billing code this page is about

A computed tomography scan of the cervical spine (neck vertebrae) performed after contrast dye is given.

Hospitals typically charge $1,634 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,138 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,699. Most fall between $781 and $2,922 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,138
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 3,138 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
$532$933$1,634$2,594$4,544

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.5× what the cheapest tenth charges ($532 vs $4,544).

How the prices are spread

$395 – $529: 159 hospitals$395$529 – $707: 242 hospitals$707 – $946: 242 hospitals$707$946 – $1,266: 314 hospitals$1,266 – $1,693: 541 hospitals$1,266$1,693 – $2,265: 477 hospitals$2,265 – $3,030: 406 hospitals$2,265$3,030 – $4,053: 233 hospitals$4,053 – $5,421: 121 hospitals$4,053$5,421 – $7,251: 93 hospitals$5,421median $1,634price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,828 of 3,138 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$395$529159
$529$707242
$707$946242
$946$1,266314
$1,266$1,693541
$1,693$2,265477
$2,265$3,030406
$3,030$4,053233
$4,053$5,421121
$5,421$7,25193

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$356
Median cash price$1,634
Cash as a multiple of Medicare4.6×

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 $1,634.

Alaska: median $2,398 across 14 hospitalsAK$2,398Maine: median $1,007 across 25 hospitalsME$1,007Vermont: median $2,089 across 12 hospitalsVT$2,089New Hampshire: median $1,519 across 19 hospitalsNH$1,519Washington: median $1,602 across 67 hospitalsWA$1,602Idaho: median $1,685 across 21 hospitalsID$1,685Montana: median $1,662 across 18 hospitalsMT$1,662North Dakota: median $1,652 across 26 hospitalsND$1,652Minnesota: median $1,369 across 81 hospitalsMN$1,369Illinois: median $2,393 across 126 hospitalsIL$2,393Wisconsin: median $1,570 across 98 hospitalsWI$1,570Michigan: median $1,582 across 84 hospitalsMI$1,582New York: median $1,126 across 97 hospitalsNY$1,126Massachusetts: median $1,685 across 50 hospitalsMA$1,685Oregon: median $1,640 across 45 hospitalsOR$1,640Nevada: median $2,450 across 20 hospitalsNV$2,450Wyoming: median $1,971 across 14 hospitalsWY$1,971South Dakota: median $2,554 across 23 hospitalsSD$2,554Iowa: median $1,620 across 66 hospitalsIA$1,620Indiana: median $875 across 89 hospitalsIN$875Ohio: median $1,413 across 140 hospitalsOH$1,413Pennsylvania: median $1,406 across 112 hospitalsPA$1,406New Jersey: median $543 across 57 hospitalsNJ$543Connecticut: median $1,410 across 22 hospitalsCT$1,410Rhode Island: median $1,324 across 10 hospitalsRI$1,324California: median $3,068 across 212 hospitalsCA$3,068Utah: median $2,189 across 41 hospitalsUT$2,189Colorado: median $1,899 across 62 hospitalsCO$1,899Nebraska: median $2,494 across 69 hospitalsNE$2,494Missouri: median $1,327 across 74 hospitalsMO$1,327Kentucky: median $1,464 across 63 hospitalsKY$1,464West Virginia: median $1,352 across 36 hospitalsWV$1,352Virginia: median $1,839 across 69 hospitalsVA$1,839Maryland: median $221 across 37 hospitalsMD$221Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $1,353 across 53 hospitalsAZ$1,353New Mexico: median $2,036 across 25 hospitalsNM$2,036Kansas: median $1,154 across 73 hospitalsKS$1,154Arkansas: median $624 across 32 hospitalsAR$624Tennessee: median $812 across 76 hospitalsTN$812North Carolina: median $1,678 across 89 hospitalsNC$1,678South Carolina: median $1,808 across 51 hospitalsSC$1,808Oklahoma: median $1,112 across 68 hospitalsOK$1,112Louisiana: median $802 across 52 hospitalsLA$802Mississippi: median $975 across 47 hospitalsMS$975Alabama: median $1,366 across 41 hospitalsAL$1,366Georgia: median $1,332 across 101 hospitalsGA$1,332Hawaii: median $1,470 across 17 hospitalsHI$1,470Texas: median $2,381 across 235 hospitalsTX$2,381Florida: median $3,725 across 173 hospitalsFL$3,725
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,634. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL173$3,725+128%$1,601 – $12,448
California CA212$3,068+88%$1,627 – $5,553
South Dakota SD23$2,554+56%$2,425 – $3,573
Nebraska NE69$2,494+53%$1,634 – $2,990
Nevada NV20$2,450+50%$766 – $3,852
Alaska AK14$2,398+47%$1,569 – $4,342
Illinois IL126$2,393+46%$993 – $3,547
Texas TX235$2,381+46%$1,408 – $4,652
Utah UT41$2,189+34%$1,488 – $2,189
Vermont VT12$2,089+28%$1,730 – $2,920
New Mexico NM25$2,036+25%$1,420 – $2,638
Wyoming WY14$1,971+21%$812 – $2,652
Colorado CO62$1,899+16%$1,103 – $2,581
Virginia VA69$1,839+13%$862 – $3,374
South Carolina SC51$1,808+11%$1,282 – $2,633
Massachusetts MA50$1,685+3%$850 – $2,341
Idaho ID21$1,685+3%$1,133 – $2,263
North Carolina NC89$1,678+3%$1,441 – $2,860
Montana MT18$1,662+2%$1,039 – $2,470
North Dakota ND26$1,652+1%$1,449 – $1,966
Oregon OR45$1,6400%$916 – $2,163
Iowa IA66$1,620−1%$1,204 – $2,393
Washington WA67$1,602−2%$1,053 – $2,478
Michigan MI84$1,582−3%$590 – $2,301
Wisconsin WI98$1,570−4%$679 – $2,326
New Hampshire NH19$1,519−7%$1,000 – $4,175
Hawaii HI17$1,470−10%$1,383 – $2,380
Kentucky KY63$1,464−10%$957 – $2,911
Ohio OH140$1,413−14%$949 – $1,733
Connecticut CT22$1,410−14%$925 – $1,716
Pennsylvania PA112$1,406−14%$472 – $3,053
Minnesota MN81$1,369−16%$648 – $1,843
Alabama AL41$1,366−16%$836 – $2,546
Arizona AZ53$1,353−17%$548 – $8,231
West Virginia WV36$1,352−17%$950 – $2,302
Georgia GA101$1,332−18%$641 – $2,286
Missouri MO74$1,327−19%$881 – $2,554
Rhode Island RI10$1,324−19%$564 – $1,782
Kansas KS73$1,154−29%$691 – $1,982
New York NY97$1,126−31%$423 – $2,617
Oklahoma OK68$1,112−32%$740 – $1,868
Maine ME25$1,007−38%$510 – $1,977
Mississippi MS47$975−40%$574 – $1,322
Indiana IN89$875−46%$565 – $1,681
Tennessee TN76$812−50%$560 – $1,613
Louisiana LA52$802−51%$460 – $1,726
Arkansas AR32$624−62%$384 – $1,434
New Jersey NJ57$543−67%$421 – $1,056
Maryland MD37$221−86%$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 $1,634.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,308$1,602$717 – $3,242
Children’s62$2,885$1,528 – $5,143
Critical access758$1,640$923 – $2,450
Ownership
For-profit473$2,381$1,007 – $8,271
Government532$1,508$786 – $2,418
Non-profit2,123$1,601$754 – $2,686
System affiliation
Part of a system2,597$1,668$816 – $3,068
Independent541$1,426$696 – $2,531

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,781
Median cash price$1,634
Cash as a share of list, median hospital61%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 39%. 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

2,125 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,700 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,777; most fall between $866 and $2,912.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,125 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
$560$1,021$1,700$2,613$4,045

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.2× what the cheapest tenth charges ($560 vs $4,045).

Of the 2,355 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,125 gave a usable cash price; 127 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

3,138 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (79%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,464 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,138
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here210
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 — excluded115
Hospitals that filed this code3,464

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 Cervical Spine 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 neck spine with contrast (CPT 72126) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-72126-ct-scan-of-the-neck-spine-with-contrast