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Procedure price report · Magnetic resonance imaging

MRI of an arm joint without contrast

CPT 73221the billing code this page is about

Magnetic resonance images of one joint of the arm, such as the shoulder, elbow or wrist, taken without contrast dye.

Hospitals typically charge $1,784 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,203 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $1,810. Most fall between $847 and $3,125 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,203
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 3,203 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
$556$994$1,784$2,734$4,562

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.2× what the cheapest tenth charges ($556 vs $4,562).

How the prices are spread

$338 – $455: 69 hospitals$338$455 – $613: 200 hospitals$613 – $826: 190 hospitals$613$826 – $1,113: 338 hospitals$1,113 – $1,500: 386 hospitals$1,113$1,500 – $2,022: 482 hospitals$2,022 – $2,724: 567 hospitals$2,022$2,724 – $3,671: 361 hospitals$3,671 – $4,948: 194 hospitals$3,671$4,948 – $6,668: 96 hospitals$4,948median $1,784price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,883 of 3,203 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$338$45569
$455$613200
$613$826190
$826$1,113338
$1,113$1,500386
$1,500$2,022482
$2,022$2,724567
$2,724$3,671361
$3,671$4,948194
$4,948$6,66896

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$244
Median cash price$1,784
Cash as a multiple of Medicare7.3×

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 $1,784.

Alaska: median $2,562 across 14 hospitalsAK$2,562Maine: median $1,176 across 24 hospitalsME$1,176Vermont: median $3,201 across 11 hospitalsVT$3,201New Hampshire: median $1,962 across 21 hospitalsNH$1,962Washington: median $1,676 across 63 hospitalsWA$1,676Idaho: median $1,595 across 22 hospitalsID$1,595Montana: median $1,546 across 16 hospitalsMT$1,546North Dakota: median $1,860 across 32 hospitalsND$1,860Minnesota: median $1,834 across 99 hospitalsMN$1,834Illinois: median $2,730 across 136 hospitalsIL$2,730Wisconsin: median $2,110 across 107 hospitalsWI$2,110Michigan: median $1,594 across 82 hospitalsMI$1,594New York: median $992 across 110 hospitalsNY$992Massachusetts: median $2,105 across 49 hospitalsMA$2,105Oregon: median $1,776 across 45 hospitalsOR$1,776Nevada: median $1,763 across 18 hospitalsNV$1,763Wyoming: median $1,445 across 12 hospitalsWY$1,445South Dakota: median $3,530 across 36 hospitalsSD$3,530Iowa: median $2,241 across 87 hospitalsIA$2,241Indiana: median $971 across 93 hospitalsIN$971Ohio: median $1,266 across 126 hospitalsOH$1,266Pennsylvania: median $1,656 across 115 hospitalsPA$1,656New Jersey: median $327 across 45 hospitalsNJ$327Connecticut: median $1,622 across 22 hospitalsCT$1,622Rhode Island: median $1,381 across 10 hospitalsRI$1,381California: median $2,514 across 192 hospitalsCA$2,514Utah: median $2,336 across 43 hospitalsUT$2,336Colorado: median $1,698 across 64 hospitalsCO$1,698Nebraska: median $2,462 across 82 hospitalsNE$2,462Missouri: median $1,700 across 76 hospitalsMO$1,700Kentucky: median $1,616 across 66 hospitalsKY$1,616West Virginia: median $1,381 across 40 hospitalsWV$1,381Virginia: median $1,933 across 71 hospitalsVA$1,933Maryland: median $527 across 36 hospitalsMD$527Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $1,382 across 47 hospitalsAZ$1,382New Mexico: median $1,467 across 30 hospitalsNM$1,467Kansas: median $1,199 across 85 hospitalsKS$1,199Arkansas: median $722 across 32 hospitalsAR$722Tennessee: median $861 across 78 hospitalsTN$861North Carolina: median $1,938 across 87 hospitalsNC$1,938South Carolina: median $2,228 across 52 hospitalsSC$2,228Oklahoma: median $1,264 across 62 hospitalsOK$1,264Louisiana: median $883 across 55 hospitalsLA$883Mississippi: median $1,025 across 49 hospitalsMS$1,025Alabama: median $1,463 across 38 hospitalsAL$1,463Georgia: median $1,411 across 103 hospitalsGA$1,411Hawaii: median $1,700 across 14 hospitalsHI$1,700Texas: median $2,312 across 230 hospitalsTX$2,312Florida: median $3,305 across 170 hospitalsFL$3,305
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $1,784. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
South Dakota SD36$3,530+98%$2,675 – $4,828
Florida FL170$3,305+85%$1,360 – $8,205
Vermont VT11$3,201+79%$2,364 – $3,626
Illinois IL136$2,730+53%$1,266 – $3,799
Alaska AK14$2,562+44%$1,684 – $4,459
California CA192$2,514+41%$1,331 – $4,860
Nebraska NE82$2,462+38%$1,745 – $2,944
Utah UT43$2,336+31%$1,680 – $2,748
Texas TX230$2,312+30%$1,033 – $4,317
Iowa IA87$2,241+26%$1,473 – $2,736
South Carolina SC52$2,228+25%$1,254 – $3,630
Wisconsin WI107$2,110+18%$925 – $2,421
Massachusetts MA49$2,105+18%$1,058 – $2,741
New Hampshire NH21$1,962+10%$1,251 – $4,109
North Carolina NC87$1,938+9%$1,340 – $2,771
Virginia VA71$1,933+8%$985 – $5,053
North Dakota ND32$1,860+4%$1,550 – $2,475
Minnesota MN99$1,834+3%$872 – $2,584
Oregon OR45$1,7760%$1,268 – $2,189
Nevada NV18$1,763−1%$933 – $2,580
Hawaii HI14$1,700−5%$1,260 – $2,286
Missouri MO76$1,700−5%$1,057 – $2,538
Colorado CO64$1,698−5%$1,014 – $2,364
Washington WA63$1,676−6%$1,084 – $2,538
Pennsylvania PA115$1,656−7%$447 – $3,793
Connecticut CT22$1,622−9%$834 – $1,676
Kentucky KY66$1,616−9%$971 – $3,225
Idaho ID22$1,595−11%$1,362 – $1,914
Michigan MI82$1,594−11%$998 – $3,208
Montana MT16$1,546−13%$1,189 – $2,095
New Mexico NM30$1,467−18%$911 – $2,316
Alabama AL38$1,463−18%$720 – $3,082
Wyoming WY12$1,445−19%$526 – $2,540
Georgia GA103$1,411−21%$803 – $3,000
Arizona AZ47$1,382−23%$468 – $4,913
Rhode Island RI10$1,381−23%$556 – $2,100
West Virginia WV40$1,381−23%$923 – $2,377
Ohio OH126$1,266−29%$1,048 – $2,194
Oklahoma OK62$1,264−29%$688 – $2,127
Kansas KS85$1,199−33%$727 – $2,097
Maine ME24$1,176−34%$476 – $2,140
Mississippi MS49$1,025−43%$513 – $1,530
New York NY110$992−44%$449 – $2,428
Indiana IN93$971−46%$569 – $2,128
Louisiana LA55$883−51%$504 – $1,573
Tennessee TN78$861−52%$566 – $1,879
Arkansas AR32$722−60%$562 – $1,262
Maryland MD36$527−70%$358 – $805
New Jersey NJ45$327−82%$276 – $1,250
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 $1,784.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,275$1,697$784 – $3,304
Children’s64$2,299$1,620 – $3,713
Critical access854$1,859$982 – $2,764
Ownership
For-profit472$2,392$936 – $7,785
Government579$1,674$827 – $2,617
Non-profit2,142$1,750$835 – $2,926
System affiliation
Part of a system2,624$1,798$873 – $3,258
Independent579$1,605$779 – $2,649

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$2,978
Median cash price$1,784
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

2,190 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $1,839 and the average of the middle 60% is $1,873; most fall between $957 and $3,094.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,190 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$1,068$1,839$2,755$4,051

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.7× what the cheapest tenth charges ($605 vs $4,051).

Of the 2,428 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,190 gave a usable cash price; 128 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 110 a list price only.

How complete is this

3,203 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (81%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,569 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,203
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here229
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 — excluded132
Hospitals that filed this code3,569

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 Any Jt Upper Extremity 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 an arm joint without contrast (CPT 73221) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-73221-mri-of-an-arm-joint-without-contrast