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Procedure price report · Magnetic resonance imaging

MRI of the neck spine with contrast

CPT 72142the billing code this page is about

A magnetic resonance imaging scan of the cervical spine and spinal canal in the neck, performed after contrast dye is given.

Hospitals typically charge $2,147 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,928 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,195. Most fall between $1,065 and $3,851 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,928
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 2,928 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
$642$1,260$2,147$3,338$5,614

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.7× what the cheapest tenth charges ($642 vs $5,614).

How the prices are spread

$461 – $612: 90 hospitals$461$612 – $813: 183 hospitals$813 – $1,079: 183 hospitals$813$1,079 – $1,433: 278 hospitals$1,433 – $1,903: 395 hospitals$1,433$1,903 – $2,527: 516 hospitals$2,527 – $3,356: 414 hospitals$2,527$3,356 – $4,456: 295 hospitals$4,456 – $5,917: 158 hospitals$4,456$5,917 – $7,857: 124 hospitals$5,917median $2,147price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,636 of 2,928 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$461$61290
$612$813183
$813$1,079183
$1,079$1,433278
$1,433$1,903395
$1,903$2,527516
$2,527$3,356414
$3,356$4,456295
$4,456$5,917158
$5,917$7,857124

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$356
Median cash price$2,147
Cash as a multiple of Medicare6.0×

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 $2,147.

Alaska: median $3,102 across 11 hospitalsAK$3,102Maine: median $1,444 across 24 hospitalsME$1,444Vermont: median $3,362 across 11 hospitalsVT$3,362New Hampshire: median $2,294 across 17 hospitalsNH$2,294Washington: median $2,087 across 64 hospitalsWA$2,087Idaho: median $1,876 across 20 hospitalsID$1,876Montana: median $2,034 across 15 hospitalsMT$2,034North Dakota: median $2,399 across 24 hospitalsND$2,399Minnesota: median $1,567 across 74 hospitalsMN$1,567Illinois: median $3,312 across 129 hospitalsIL$3,312Wisconsin: median $2,094 across 96 hospitalsWI$2,094Michigan: median $1,817 across 78 hospitalsMI$1,817New York: median $1,076 across 107 hospitalsNY$1,076Massachusetts: median $2,391 across 47 hospitalsMA$2,391Oregon: median $2,224 across 42 hospitalsOR$2,224Nevada: median $1,988 across 18 hospitalsNV$1,988Wyoming: median $1,534 across 12 hospitalsWY$1,534South Dakota: median $3,514 across 17 hospitalsSD$3,514Iowa: median $2,274 across 64 hospitalsIA$2,274Indiana: median $969 across 87 hospitalsIN$969Ohio: median $1,789 across 120 hospitalsOH$1,789Pennsylvania: median $2,583 across 111 hospitalsPA$2,583New Jersey: median $643 across 58 hospitalsNJ$643Connecticut: median $1,567 across 14 hospitalsCT$1,567Rhode Island: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $3,884 across 201 hospitalsCA$3,884Utah: median $3,102 across 39 hospitalsUT$3,102Colorado: median $2,273 across 59 hospitalsCO$2,273Nebraska: median $3,358 across 71 hospitalsNE$3,358Missouri: median $2,153 across 71 hospitalsMO$2,153Kentucky: median $1,678 across 54 hospitalsKY$1,678West Virginia: median $2,028 across 34 hospitalsWV$2,028Virginia: median $2,120 across 64 hospitalsVA$2,120Maryland: median $741 across 36 hospitalsMD$741Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $1,203 across 46 hospitalsAZ$1,203New Mexico: median $2,085 across 20 hospitalsNM$2,085Kansas: median $1,550 across 69 hospitalsKS$1,550Arkansas: median $1,202 across 24 hospitalsAR$1,202Tennessee: median $1,015 across 74 hospitalsTN$1,015North Carolina: median $2,416 across 76 hospitalsNC$2,416South Carolina: median $2,350 across 50 hospitalsSC$2,350Oklahoma: median $1,373 across 55 hospitalsOK$1,373Louisiana: median $1,217 across 47 hospitalsLA$1,217Mississippi: median $1,228 across 46 hospitalsMS$1,228Alabama: median $1,654 across 36 hospitalsAL$1,654Georgia: median $1,872 across 92 hospitalsGA$1,872Hawaii: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $2,302 across 221 hospitalsTX$2,302Florida: median $3,951 across 161 hospitalsFL$3,951
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,147. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL161$3,951+84%$1,678 – $8,983
California CA201$3,884+81%$2,013 – $6,480
South Dakota SD17$3,514+64%$3,258 – $4,195
Vermont VT11$3,362+57%$2,502 – $3,958
Nebraska NE71$3,358+56%$2,400 – $4,124
Illinois IL129$3,312+54%$1,525 – $4,541
Alaska AK11$3,102+44%$1,957 – $5,820
Utah UT39$3,102+44%$2,013 – $3,649
Pennsylvania PA111$2,583+20%$592 – $4,936
North Carolina NC76$2,416+13%$1,753 – $3,353
North Dakota ND24$2,399+12%$1,780 – $3,161
Massachusetts MA47$2,391+11%$1,379 – $3,705
South Carolina SC50$2,350+9%$1,610 – $3,864
Texas TX221$2,302+7%$1,548 – $4,858
New Hampshire NH17$2,294+7%$1,703 – $5,704
Iowa IA64$2,274+6%$1,723 – $3,343
Colorado CO59$2,273+6%$1,193 – $2,805
Oregon OR42$2,224+4%$1,853 – $2,681
Missouri MO71$2,1530%$1,450 – $3,157
Virginia VA64$2,120−1%$1,342 – $4,274
Wisconsin WI96$2,094−2%$1,329 – $2,650
Washington WA64$2,087−3%$1,105 – $2,976
New Mexico NM20$2,085−3%$1,468 – $2,863
Montana MT15$2,034−5%$1,381 – $2,476
West Virginia WV34$2,028−6%$1,352 – $3,242
Nevada NV18$1,988−7%$970 – $3,248
Idaho ID20$1,876−13%$1,398 – $2,325
Georgia GA92$1,872−13%$1,080 – $3,250
Michigan MI78$1,817−15%$1,251 – $4,038
Ohio OH120$1,789−17%$1,247 – $2,842
Kentucky KY54$1,678−22%$1,213 – $3,761
Alabama AL36$1,654−23%$963 – $3,720
Connecticut CT14$1,567−27%$1,078 – $2,318
Minnesota MN74$1,567−27%$900 – $2,838
Kansas KS69$1,550−28%$800 – $2,989
Wyoming WY12$1,534−29%$998 – $3,432
Maine ME24$1,444−33%$594 – $2,414
Oklahoma OK55$1,373−36%$785 – $2,335
Mississippi MS46$1,228−43%$847 – $1,512
Louisiana LA47$1,217−43%$651 – $2,145
Arizona AZ46$1,203−44%$431 – $4,721
Arkansas AR24$1,202−44%$584 – $2,243
New York NY107$1,076−50%$447 – $3,549
Tennessee TN74$1,015−53%$637 – $2,426
Indiana IN87$969−55%$628 – $2,419
Maryland MD36$741−66%$503 – $1,130
New Jersey NJ58$643−70%$421 – $3,279
Hawaii HI9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
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 $2,147.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,175$2,043$951 – $4,038
Children’s65$3,611$2,052 – $7,027
Critical access679$2,217$1,276 – $3,335
Ownership
For-profit424$2,850$1,285 – $9,193
Government486$1,997$991 – $3,204
Non-profit2,009$2,102$1,050 – $3,499
System affiliation
Part of a system2,425$2,201$1,105 – $3,951
Independent503$1,995$908 – $3,223

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,719
Median cash price$2,147
Cash as a share of list, median hospital62%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 38%. 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

2,022 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $2,210 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,245; most fall between $1,211 and $3,687.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,022 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
$737$1,370$2,210$3,310$4,960

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.7× what the cheapest tenth charges ($737 vs $4,960).

Of the 2,230 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,022 gave a usable cash price; 111 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 97 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,928 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (74%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,237 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,928
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 — excluded2
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded107
Hospitals that filed this code3,237

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 Spinal Canal Cervical W/Contrast Matrl|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 neck spine with contrast (CPT 72142) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-72142-mri-of-the-neck-spine-with-contrast