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Procedure price report · Magnetic resonance imaging

MRI of the mid-back (thoracic spine) without contrast

CPT 72146the billing code this page is about

Magnetic resonance imaging of the thoracic (middle) portion of the spine, done without injected contrast dye.

Hospitals typically charge $1,857 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,253 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,894. Most fall between $868 and $3,325 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,253
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 3,253 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
$519$1,004$1,857$2,935$4,751

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.2× what the cheapest tenth charges ($519 vs $4,751).

How the prices are spread

$323 – $437: 80 hospitals$323$437 – $592: 163 hospitals$592 – $802: 191 hospitals$592$802 – $1,087: 311 hospitals$1,087 – $1,473: 367 hospitals$1,087$1,473 – $1,996: 464 hospitals$1,996 – $2,704: 593 hospitals$1,996$2,704 – $3,664: 403 hospitals$3,664 – $4,964: 215 hospitals$3,664$4,964 – $6,726: 143 hospitals$4,964median $1,857price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,930 of 3,253 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$323$43780
$437$592163
$592$802191
$802$1,087311
$1,087$1,473367
$1,473$1,996464
$1,996$2,704593
$2,704$3,664403
$3,664$4,964215
$4,964$6,726143

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$244
Median cash price$1,857
Cash as a multiple of Medicare7.6×

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 $1,857.

Alaska: median $2,893 across 14 hospitalsAK$2,893Maine: median $1,124 across 24 hospitalsME$1,124Vermont: median $3,521 across 11 hospitalsVT$3,521New Hampshire: median $2,014 across 22 hospitalsNH$2,014Washington: median $2,041 across 70 hospitalsWA$2,041Idaho: median $1,595 across 22 hospitalsID$1,595Montana: median $1,752 across 16 hospitalsMT$1,752North Dakota: median $1,970 across 32 hospitalsND$1,970Minnesota: median $1,845 across 101 hospitalsMN$1,845Illinois: median $2,881 across 135 hospitalsIL$2,881Wisconsin: median $2,110 across 107 hospitalsWI$2,110Michigan: median $1,484 across 82 hospitalsMI$1,484New York: median $992 across 111 hospitalsNY$992Massachusetts: median $1,961 across 51 hospitalsMA$1,961Oregon: median $1,776 across 46 hospitalsOR$1,776Nevada: median $1,300 across 18 hospitalsNV$1,300Wyoming: median $1,635 across 12 hospitalsWY$1,635South Dakota: median $3,935 across 35 hospitalsSD$3,935Iowa: median $2,297 across 86 hospitalsIA$2,297Indiana: median $971 across 95 hospitalsIN$971Ohio: median $1,706 across 127 hospitalsOH$1,706Pennsylvania: median $1,656 across 116 hospitalsPA$1,656New Jersey: median $491 across 57 hospitalsNJ$491Connecticut: median $1,318 across 18 hospitalsCT$1,318Rhode Island: median $1,321 across 10 hospitalsRI$1,321California: median $2,658 across 215 hospitalsCA$2,658Utah: median $2,804 across 42 hospitalsUT$2,804Colorado: median $2,036 across 64 hospitalsCO$2,036Nebraska: median $3,400 across 83 hospitalsNE$3,400Missouri: median $1,485 across 76 hospitalsMO$1,485Kentucky: median $1,761 across 67 hospitalsKY$1,761West Virginia: median $1,441 across 40 hospitalsWV$1,441Virginia: median $2,000 across 71 hospitalsVA$2,000Maryland: median $456 across 36 hospitalsMD$456Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $1,265 across 49 hospitalsAZ$1,265New Mexico: median $1,878 across 29 hospitalsNM$1,878Kansas: median $1,233 across 84 hospitalsKS$1,233Arkansas: median $791 across 33 hospitalsAR$791Tennessee: median $916 across 78 hospitalsTN$916North Carolina: median $2,042 across 88 hospitalsNC$2,042South Carolina: median $2,310 across 52 hospitalsSC$2,310Oklahoma: median $1,042 across 62 hospitalsOK$1,042Louisiana: median $871 across 54 hospitalsLA$871Mississippi: median $1,126 across 49 hospitalsMS$1,126Alabama: median $1,542 across 38 hospitalsAL$1,542Georgia: median $1,612 across 103 hospitalsGA$1,612Hawaii: median $1,513 across 12 hospitalsHI$1,513Texas: median $2,143 across 232 hospitalsTX$2,143Florida: median $3,775 across 172 hospitalsFL$3,775
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,857. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
South Dakota SD35$3,935+112%$3,254 – $4,590
Florida FL172$3,775+103%$1,360 – $7,845
Vermont VT11$3,521+90%$1,544 – $3,908
Nebraska NE83$3,400+83%$2,180 – $3,995
Alaska AK14$2,893+56%$1,751 – $3,650
Illinois IL135$2,881+55%$1,213 – $4,048
Utah UT42$2,804+51%$2,154 – $3,299
California CA215$2,658+43%$1,461 – $5,458
South Carolina SC52$2,310+24%$1,500 – $3,396
Iowa IA86$2,297+24%$1,626 – $2,916
Texas TX232$2,143+15%$1,210 – $4,776
Wisconsin WI107$2,110+14%$615 – $2,516
North Carolina NC88$2,042+10%$1,372 – $3,181
Washington WA70$2,041+10%$1,114 – $2,512
Colorado CO64$2,036+10%$990 – $2,710
New Hampshire NH22$2,014+8%$1,382 – $4,751
Virginia VA71$2,000+8%$1,119 – $3,602
North Dakota ND32$1,970+6%$1,465 – $2,440
Massachusetts MA51$1,961+6%$1,058 – $2,945
New Mexico NM29$1,878+1%$945 – $2,994
Minnesota MN101$1,845−1%$765 – $2,757
Oregon OR46$1,776−4%$1,284 – $2,482
Kentucky KY67$1,761−5%$971 – $3,225
Montana MT16$1,752−6%$1,283 – $2,426
Ohio OH127$1,706−8%$1,075 – $2,282
Pennsylvania PA116$1,656−11%$454 – $3,596
Wyoming WY12$1,635−12%$796 – $3,025
Georgia GA103$1,612−13%$827 – $3,323
Idaho ID22$1,595−14%$1,371 – $1,916
Alabama AL38$1,542−17%$916 – $3,612
Hawaii HI12$1,513−19%$885 – $2,010
Missouri MO76$1,485−20%$1,105 – $2,528
Michigan MI82$1,484−20%$580 – $3,470
West Virginia WV40$1,441−22%$1,036 – $2,289
Rhode Island RI10$1,321−29%$556 – $2,300
Connecticut CT18$1,318−29%$911 – $2,122
Nevada NV18$1,300−30%$1,068 – $3,021
Arizona AZ49$1,265−32%$346 – $6,122
Kansas KS84$1,233−34%$727 – $2,408
Mississippi MS49$1,126−39%$430 – $1,465
Maine ME24$1,124−39%$478 – $2,181
Oklahoma OK62$1,042−44%$732 – $2,060
New York NY111$992−47%$358 – $3,072
Indiana IN95$971−48%$368 – $2,141
Tennessee TN78$916−51%$605 – $2,022
Louisiana LA54$871−53%$525 – $1,949
Arkansas AR33$791−57%$584 – $1,976
New Jersey NJ57$491−74%$285 – $1,240
Maryland MD36$456−75%$260 – $719
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 $1,857.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,324$1,748$774 – $3,396
Children’s63$3,092$1,697 – $5,624
Critical access856$1,994$1,045 – $3,080
Ownership
For-profit477$2,391$1,025 – $7,717
Government572$1,790$885 – $2,943
Non-profit2,194$1,776$828 – $3,071
System affiliation
Part of a system2,678$1,900$872 – $3,450
Independent575$1,740$804 – $2,833

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,256
Median cash price$1,857
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

2,228 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,924 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,931; most fall between $945 and $3,254.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,228 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
$562$1,075$1,924$2,921$4,233

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.5× what the cheapest tenth charges ($562 vs $4,233).

Of the 2,461 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,228 gave a usable cash price; 126 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 107 a list price only.

How complete is this

3,253 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (82%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,599 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,253
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here222
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded5
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded119
Hospitals that filed this code3,599

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 Thoracic W/O 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 mid-back (thoracic spine) without contrast (CPT 72146) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-72146-mri-of-the-mid-back-thoracic-spine-without-contrast