HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

Procedure price report · Magnetic resonance imaging

MRI of the mid-back with and without contrast

CPT 72157the billing code this page is about

Magnetic resonance imaging of the thoracic (middle) portion of the spine, with images taken both before and after contrast dye is injected.

Hospitals typically charge $2,646 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,238 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $2,733. Most fall between $1,263 and $4,635 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,238
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 3,238 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
$760$1,483$2,646$4,107$6,838

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.0× what the cheapest tenth charges ($760 vs $6,838).

How the prices are spread

$490 – $660: 83 hospitals$490$660 – $889: 160 hospitals$889 – $1,198: 195 hospitals$889$1,198 – $1,614: 297 hospitals$1,614 – $2,175: 383 hospitals$1,614$2,175 – $2,930: 510 hospitals$2,930 – $3,948: 561 hospitals$2,930$3,948 – $5,320: 390 hospitals$5,320 – $7,168: 202 hospitals$5,320$7,168 – $9,658: 135 hospitals$7,168median $2,646price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,916 of 3,238 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$490$66083
$660$889160
$889$1,198195
$1,198$1,614297
$1,614$2,175383
$2,175$2,930510
$2,930$3,948561
$3,948$5,320390
$5,320$7,168202
$7,168$9,658135

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$356
Median cash price$2,646
Cash as a multiple of Medicare7.4×

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 $2,646.

Alaska: median $4,142 across 14 hospitalsAK$4,142Maine: median $1,601 across 24 hospitalsME$1,601Vermont: median $3,925 across 11 hospitalsVT$3,925New Hampshire: median $3,233 across 21 hospitalsNH$3,233Washington: median $2,649 across 70 hospitalsWA$2,649Idaho: median $2,263 across 22 hospitalsID$2,263Montana: median $2,861 across 16 hospitalsMT$2,861North Dakota: median $2,921 across 31 hospitalsND$2,921Minnesota: median $2,308 across 100 hospitalsMN$2,308Illinois: median $4,027 across 134 hospitalsIL$4,027Wisconsin: median $2,789 across 107 hospitalsWI$2,789Michigan: median $2,364 across 83 hospitalsMI$2,364New York: median $1,511 across 112 hospitalsNY$1,511Massachusetts: median $3,325 across 50 hospitalsMA$3,325Oregon: median $2,672 across 46 hospitalsOR$2,672Nevada: median $2,220 across 18 hospitalsNV$2,220Wyoming: median $2,047 across 12 hospitalsWY$2,047South Dakota: median $4,734 across 35 hospitalsSD$4,734Iowa: median $3,361 across 84 hospitalsIA$3,361Indiana: median $1,250 across 96 hospitalsIN$1,250Ohio: median $2,130 across 127 hospitalsOH$2,130Pennsylvania: median $2,714 across 115 hospitalsPA$2,714New Jersey: median $820 across 57 hospitalsNJ$820Connecticut: median $2,476 across 22 hospitalsCT$2,476Rhode Island: median $2,127 across 10 hospitalsRI$2,127California: median $3,874 across 216 hospitalsCA$3,874Utah: median $4,046 across 41 hospitalsUT$4,046Colorado: median $2,710 across 64 hospitalsCO$2,710Nebraska: median $3,988 across 81 hospitalsNE$3,988Missouri: median $2,496 across 76 hospitalsMO$2,496Kentucky: median $2,259 across 65 hospitalsKY$2,259West Virginia: median $2,171 across 39 hospitalsWV$2,171Virginia: median $3,316 across 71 hospitalsVA$3,316Maryland: median $929 across 37 hospitalsMD$929Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $2,322 across 49 hospitalsAZ$2,322New Mexico: median $2,798 across 29 hospitalsNM$2,798Kansas: median $1,716 across 82 hospitalsKS$1,716Arkansas: median $906 across 33 hospitalsAR$906Tennessee: median $1,243 across 78 hospitalsTN$1,243North Carolina: median $2,947 across 87 hospitalsNC$2,947South Carolina: median $3,047 across 51 hospitalsSC$3,047Oklahoma: median $1,508 across 61 hospitalsOK$1,508Louisiana: median $1,400 across 53 hospitalsLA$1,400Mississippi: median $1,643 across 49 hospitalsMS$1,643Alabama: median $2,320 across 38 hospitalsAL$2,320Georgia: median $2,385 across 101 hospitalsGA$2,385Hawaii: median $1,876 across 12 hospitalsHI$1,876Texas: median $3,265 across 232 hospitalsTX$3,265Florida: median $4,832 across 170 hospitalsFL$4,832
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $2,646. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL170$4,832+83%$2,046 – $11,302
South Dakota SD35$4,734+79%$4,230 – $5,576
Alaska AK14$4,142+57%$2,405 – $5,782
Utah UT41$4,046+53%$2,563 – $4,760
Illinois IL134$4,027+52%$1,910 – $5,526
Nebraska NE81$3,988+51%$2,794 – $4,661
Vermont VT11$3,925+48%$2,744 – $6,065
California CA216$3,874+46%$1,946 – $8,050
Iowa IA84$3,361+27%$2,362 – $4,635
Massachusetts MA50$3,325+26%$1,909 – $4,465
Virginia VA71$3,316+25%$1,700 – $5,152
Texas TX232$3,265+23%$1,953 – $6,941
New Hampshire NH21$3,233+22%$2,331 – $7,149
South Carolina SC51$3,047+15%$2,200 – $3,236
North Carolina NC87$2,947+11%$1,997 – $4,462
North Dakota ND31$2,921+10%$2,458 – $3,806
Montana MT16$2,861+8%$2,143 – $3,436
New Mexico NM29$2,798+6%$1,544 – $4,531
Wisconsin WI107$2,789+5%$1,086 – $3,523
Pennsylvania PA115$2,714+3%$701 – $5,810
Colorado CO64$2,710+2%$1,474 – $3,365
Oregon OR46$2,672+1%$1,977 – $3,740
Washington WA70$2,6490%$1,543 – $3,694
Missouri MO76$2,496−6%$1,552 – $3,485
Connecticut CT22$2,476−6%$1,698 – $2,546
Georgia GA101$2,385−10%$1,349 – $4,012
Michigan MI83$2,364−11%$850 – $4,934
Arizona AZ49$2,322−12%$519 – $8,879
Alabama AL38$2,320−12%$1,326 – $4,758
Minnesota MN100$2,308−13%$1,229 – $3,404
Idaho ID22$2,263−14%$1,826 – $2,960
Kentucky KY65$2,259−15%$1,434 – $4,633
Nevada NV18$2,220−16%$1,711 – $5,322
West Virginia WV39$2,171−18%$1,714 – $4,512
Ohio OH127$2,130−20%$1,602 – $3,316
Rhode Island RI10$2,127−20%$902 – $3,800
Wyoming WY12$2,047−23%$1,194 – $4,139
Hawaii HI12$1,876−29%$1,123 – $2,463
Kansas KS82$1,716−35%$779 – $3,284
Mississippi MS49$1,643−38%$1,094 – $2,481
Maine ME24$1,601−39%$722 – $3,302
New York NY112$1,511−43%$507 – $4,763
Oklahoma OK61$1,508−43%$1,159 – $2,900
Louisiana LA53$1,400−47%$850 – $2,489
Indiana IN96$1,250−53%$616 – $2,998
Tennessee TN78$1,243−53%$669 – $2,756
Maryland MD37$929−65%$571 – $1,284
Arkansas AR33$906−66%$584 – $2,302
New Jersey NJ57$820−69%$421 – $1,709
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 $2,646.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,327$2,546$1,159 – $4,807
Children’s64$4,680$2,665 – $7,879
Critical access837$2,766$1,513 – $4,279
Ownership
For-profit476$3,437$1,441 – $10,635
Government561$2,539$1,248 – $3,981
Non-profit2,191$2,561$1,241 – $4,372
System affiliation
Part of a system2,668$2,691$1,291 – $4,760
Independent570$2,414$1,098 – $3,928

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$4,523
Median cash price$2,646
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

2,197 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $2,756 and the average of the middle 60% is $2,826; most fall between $1,422 and $4,609.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,197 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
$850$1,632$2,756$4,118$6,152

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.2× what the cheapest tenth charges ($850 vs $6,152).

Of the 2,438 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,197 gave a usable cash price; 134 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

3,238 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 3,579 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,238
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here218
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 — excluded118
Hospitals that filed this code3,579

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 & W/Contr 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 with and without contrast (CPT 72157) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-72157-mri-of-the-mid-back-with-and-without-contrast