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Procedure price report · Magnetic resonance imaging

MRI of the lower back (lumbar spine) without contrast

CPT 72148the billing code this page is about

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

Hospitals typically charge $1,853 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,262 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,906. Most fall between $846 and $3,282 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,262
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 3,262 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
$510$1,001$1,853$2,970$4,815

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.4× what the cheapest tenth charges ($510 vs $4,815).

How the prices are spread

$323 – $438: 92 hospitals$323$438 – $596: 151 hospitals$596 – $810: 213 hospitals$596$810 – $1,101: 298 hospitals$1,101 – $1,497: 377 hospitals$1,101$1,497 – $2,034: 497 hospitals$2,034 – $2,765: 565 hospitals$2,034$2,765 – $3,758: 380 hospitals$3,758 – $5,109: 215 hospitals$3,758$5,109 – $6,944: 148 hospitals$5,109median $1,853price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,936 of 3,262 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$323$43892
$438$596151
$596$810213
$810$1,101298
$1,101$1,497377
$1,497$2,034497
$2,034$2,765565
$2,765$3,758380
$3,758$5,109215
$5,109$6,944148

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$244
Median cash price$1,853
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 $1,853.

Alaska: median $3,199 across 14 hospitalsAK$3,199Maine: median $1,124 across 24 hospitalsME$1,124Vermont: median $3,521 across 11 hospitalsVT$3,521New Hampshire: median $2,410 across 22 hospitalsNH$2,410Washington: median $1,957 across 70 hospitalsWA$1,957Idaho: median $1,535 across 22 hospitalsID$1,535Montana: median $1,740 across 16 hospitalsMT$1,740North Dakota: median $1,826 across 32 hospitalsND$1,826Minnesota: median $1,845 across 101 hospitalsMN$1,845Illinois: median $2,871 across 137 hospitalsIL$2,871Wisconsin: median $2,057 across 107 hospitalsWI$2,057Michigan: median $1,546 across 82 hospitalsMI$1,546New York: median $992 across 110 hospitalsNY$992Massachusetts: median $1,961 across 50 hospitalsMA$1,961Oregon: median $1,776 across 46 hospitalsOR$1,776Nevada: median $1,832 across 18 hospitalsNV$1,832Wyoming: median $1,635 across 13 hospitalsWY$1,635South Dakota: median $3,978 across 36 hospitalsSD$3,978Iowa: median $2,396 across 86 hospitalsIA$2,396Indiana: median $971 across 95 hospitalsIN$971Ohio: median $1,482 across 127 hospitalsOH$1,482Pennsylvania: median $1,656 across 116 hospitalsPA$1,656New Jersey: median $468 across 57 hospitalsNJ$468Connecticut: median $1,318 across 18 hospitalsCT$1,318Rhode Island: median $1,268 across 10 hospitalsRI$1,268California: median $2,603 across 218 hospitalsCA$2,603Utah: median $2,631 across 43 hospitalsUT$2,631Colorado: median $1,957 across 64 hospitalsCO$1,957Nebraska: median $3,202 across 83 hospitalsNE$3,202Missouri: median $1,643 across 76 hospitalsMO$1,643Kentucky: median $1,758 across 67 hospitalsKY$1,758West Virginia: median $1,444 across 40 hospitalsWV$1,444Virginia: median $1,955 across 71 hospitalsVA$1,955Maryland: median $460 across 37 hospitalsMD$460Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $1,445 across 49 hospitalsAZ$1,445New Mexico: median $1,900 across 29 hospitalsNM$1,900Kansas: median $1,232 across 85 hospitalsKS$1,232Arkansas: median $777 across 33 hospitalsAR$777Tennessee: median $881 across 78 hospitalsTN$881North Carolina: median $2,114 across 87 hospitalsNC$2,114South Carolina: median $2,325 across 52 hospitalsSC$2,325Oklahoma: median $1,139 across 62 hospitalsOK$1,139Louisiana: median $846 across 56 hospitalsLA$846Mississippi: median $1,106 across 49 hospitalsMS$1,106Alabama: median $1,624 across 38 hospitalsAL$1,624Georgia: median $1,711 across 103 hospitalsGA$1,711Hawaii: median $1,510 across 12 hospitalsHI$1,510Texas: median $2,288 across 233 hospitalsTX$2,288Florida: median $3,600 across 171 hospitalsFL$3,600
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,853. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
South Dakota SD36$3,978+115%$3,270 – $4,815
Florida FL171$3,600+94%$1,360 – $8,195
Vermont VT11$3,521+90%$2,364 – $3,919
Nebraska NE83$3,202+73%$2,098 – $3,871
Alaska AK14$3,199+73%$2,010 – $4,583
Illinois IL137$2,871+55%$1,203 – $4,130
Utah UT43$2,631+42%$2,129 – $3,095
California CA218$2,603+40%$1,426 – $5,217
New Hampshire NH22$2,410+30%$1,386 – $4,751
Iowa IA86$2,396+29%$1,581 – $2,943
South Carolina SC52$2,325+25%$1,535 – $3,363
Texas TX233$2,288+23%$1,056 – $4,517
North Carolina NC87$2,114+14%$1,514 – $3,072
Wisconsin WI107$2,057+11%$629 – $2,543
Massachusetts MA50$1,961+6%$1,058 – $2,988
Colorado CO64$1,957+6%$1,049 – $2,677
Washington WA70$1,957+6%$1,020 – $2,417
Virginia VA71$1,955+5%$908 – $4,518
New Mexico NM29$1,900+3%$1,100 – $2,811
Minnesota MN101$1,8450%$805 – $2,720
Nevada NV18$1,832−1%$1,070 – $2,986
North Dakota ND32$1,826−1%$1,496 – $2,440
Oregon OR46$1,776−4%$1,283 – $2,482
Kentucky KY67$1,758−5%$971 – $3,250
Montana MT16$1,740−6%$1,267 – $2,458
Georgia GA103$1,711−8%$814 – $3,000
Pennsylvania PA116$1,656−11%$454 – $3,683
Missouri MO76$1,643−11%$1,026 – $2,694
Wyoming WY13$1,635−12%$801 – $3,114
Alabama AL38$1,624−12%$916 – $3,937
Michigan MI82$1,546−17%$984 – $3,470
Idaho ID22$1,535−17%$1,405 – $2,004
Hawaii HI12$1,510−19%$1,240 – $1,748
Ohio OH127$1,482−20%$1,084 – $2,270
Arizona AZ49$1,445−22%$348 – $5,484
West Virginia WV40$1,444−22%$1,036 – $2,289
Connecticut CT18$1,318−29%$911 – $2,122
Rhode Island RI10$1,268−32%$556 – $2,300
Kansas KS85$1,232−33%$720 – $2,357
Oklahoma OK62$1,139−39%$729 – $2,132
Maine ME24$1,124−39%$450 – $1,910
Mississippi MS49$1,106−40%$478 – $1,418
New York NY110$992−46%$343 – $3,072
Indiana IN95$971−48%$450 – $2,079
Tennessee TN78$881−52%$594 – $1,819
Louisiana LA56$846−54%$474 – $1,860
Arkansas AR33$777−58%$582 – $1,843
New Jersey NJ57$468−75%$285 – $1,240
Maryland MD37$460−75%$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 $1,853.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,326$1,747$760 – $3,363
Children’s64$3,092$1,631 – $5,399
Critical access862$1,987$1,042 – $3,114
Ownership
For-profit478$2,455$980 – $7,811
Government577$1,795$860 – $2,937
Non-profit2,197$1,790$812 – $3,095
System affiliation
Part of a system2,679$1,884$860 – $3,422
Independent583$1,740$775 – $2,861

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$3,225
Median cash price$1,853
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

2,231 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,961 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,980; most fall between $942 and $3,282.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,231 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
$605$1,084$1,961$2,971$4,323

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($605 vs $4,323).

Of the 2,477 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,231 gave a usable cash price; 135 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 111 a list price only.

How complete is this

3,262 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 3,609 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,262
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 — excluded120
Hospitals that filed this code3,609

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 Lumbar W/O 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, “MRI of the lower back (lumbar spine) without contrast (CPT 72148) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-72148-mri-of-the-lower-back-lumbar-spine-without-contrast