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Procedure price report · Upper gastrointestinal X-ray

Barium X-ray of the upper digestive tract

CPT 74240the billing code this page is about

X-ray study of the esophagus, stomach and first part of the small intestine after swallowing contrast, with or without delayed images, and without a separate plain abdominal film.

Hospitals typically charge $528 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,939 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $548. Most fall between $285 and $933 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,939
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 2,939 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
$209$328$528$823$1,322

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 6.3× what the cheapest tenth charges ($209 vs $1,322).

How the prices are spread

$169 – $217: 174 hospitals$169$217 – $278: 241 hospitals$278 – $357: 280 hospitals$278$357 – $459: 399 hospitals$459 – $590: 433 hospitals$459$590 – $757: 409 hospitals$757 – $973: 314 hospitals$757$973 – $1,250: 205 hospitals$1,250 – $1,606: 131 hospitals$1,250$1,606 – $2,063: 62 hospitals$1,606median $528price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,648 of 2,939 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$169$217174
$217$278241
$278$357280
$357$459399
$459$590433
$590$757409
$757$973314
$973$1,250205
$1,250$1,606131
$1,606$2,06362

Against Medicare

Medicare pays (OPPS 2026, national rate)$179
Median cash price$528
Cash as a multiple of Medicare2.9×

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 $528.

Alaska: median $872 across 13 hospitalsAK$872Maine: median $420 across 23 hospitalsME$420Vermont: median $1,190 across 11 hospitalsVT$1,190New Hampshire: median $541 across 20 hospitalsNH$541Washington: median $650 across 59 hospitalsWA$650Idaho: median $507 across 19 hospitalsID$507Montana: median $481 across 12 hospitalsMT$481North Dakota: median $557 across 15 hospitalsND$557Minnesota: median $302 across 66 hospitalsMN$302Illinois: median $701 across 114 hospitalsIL$701Wisconsin: median $479 across 99 hospitalsWI$479Michigan: median $398 across 82 hospitalsMI$398New York: median $371 across 105 hospitalsNY$371Massachusetts: median $842 across 51 hospitalsMA$842Oregon: median $541 across 42 hospitalsOR$541Nevada: median $771 across 16 hospitalsNV$771Wyoming: median $650 across 12 hospitalsWY$650South Dakota: median $983 across 15 hospitalsSD$983Iowa: median $432 across 60 hospitalsIA$432Indiana: median $502 across 88 hospitalsIN$502Ohio: median $574 across 142 hospitalsOH$574Pennsylvania: median $484 across 116 hospitalsPA$484New Jersey: median $234 across 57 hospitalsNJ$234Connecticut: median $608 across 22 hospitalsCT$608Rhode Island: median $328 across 10 hospitalsRI$328California: median $616 across 210 hospitalsCA$616Utah: median $507 across 36 hospitalsUT$507Colorado: median $468 across 57 hospitalsCO$468Nebraska: median $546 across 47 hospitalsNE$546Missouri: median $533 across 70 hospitalsMO$533Kentucky: median $495 across 57 hospitalsKY$495West Virginia: median $375 across 35 hospitalsWV$375Virginia: median $607 across 69 hospitalsVA$607Maryland: median $683 across 38 hospitalsMD$683Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $478 across 50 hospitalsAZ$478New Mexico: median $526 across 26 hospitalsNM$526Kansas: median $517 across 57 hospitalsKS$517Arkansas: median $185 across 30 hospitalsAR$185Tennessee: median $242 across 74 hospitalsTN$242North Carolina: median $498 across 92 hospitalsNC$498South Carolina: median $711 across 50 hospitalsSC$711Oklahoma: median $434 across 50 hospitalsOK$434Louisiana: median $272 across 50 hospitalsLA$272Mississippi: median $286 across 43 hospitalsMS$286Alabama: median $422 across 39 hospitalsAL$422Georgia: median $371 across 93 hospitalsGA$371Hawaii: median $464 across 16 hospitalsHI$464Texas: median $671 across 208 hospitalsTX$671Florida: median $1,077 across 167 hospitalsFL$1,077
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $528. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Vermont VT11$1,190+126%$730 – $1,289
Florida FL167$1,077+104%$495 – $3,372
South Dakota SD15$983+86%$846 – $1,442
Alaska AK13$872+65%$503 – $1,254
Massachusetts MA51$842+60%$440 – $1,115
Nevada NV16$771+46%$477 – $1,892
South Carolina SC50$711+35%$426 – $1,031
Illinois IL114$701+33%$269 – $1,084
Maryland MD38$683+29%$469 – $885
Texas TX208$671+27%$377 – $1,503
Washington WA59$650+23%$410 – $848
Wyoming WY12$650+23%$469 – $991
California CA210$616+17%$356 – $1,319
Connecticut CT22$608+15%$474 – $714
Virginia VA69$607+15%$363 – $1,134
Ohio OH142$574+9%$368 – $798
North Dakota ND15$557+6%$365 – $809
Nebraska NE47$546+4%$409 – $809
Oregon OR42$541+2%$383 – $632
New Hampshire NH20$541+2%$396 – $1,297
Missouri MO70$533+1%$363 – $765
New Mexico NM26$5260%$346 – $666
Kansas KS57$517−2%$337 – $965
Idaho ID19$507−4%$366 – $589
Utah UT36$507−4%$507 – $657
Indiana IN88$502−5%$343 – $660
North Carolina NC92$498−6%$333 – $627
Kentucky KY57$495−6%$264 – $1,149
Pennsylvania PA116$484−8%$225 – $885
Montana MT12$481−9%$329 – $602
Wisconsin WI99$479−9%$299 – $655
Arizona AZ50$478−9%$166 – $1,322
Colorado CO57$468−11%$301 – $795
Hawaii HI16$464−12%$226 – $572
Oklahoma OK50$434−18%$300 – $715
Iowa IA60$432−18%$302 – $556
Alabama AL39$422−20%$277 – $833
Maine ME23$420−20%$196 – $1,004
Michigan MI82$398−25%$246 – $629
West Virginia WV35$375−29%$297 – $697
New York NY105$371−30%$219 – $886
Georgia GA93$371−30%$198 – $1,158
Rhode Island RI10$328−38%$177 – $494
Minnesota MN66$302−43%$209 – $541
Mississippi MS43$286−46%$217 – $421
Louisiana LA50$272−49%$153 – $478
Tennessee TN74$242−54%$163 – $567
New Jersey NJ57$234−56%$199 – $528
Arkansas AR30$185−65%$97 – $352
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 $528.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,295$533$271 – $969
Children’s66$813$474 – $1,175
Critical access568$503$302 – $777
Ownership
For-profit447$708$328 – $2,281
Government432$459$239 – $771
Non-profit2,050$514$286 – $854
System affiliation
Part of a system2,454$533$287 – $946
Independent485$500$272 – $856

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$914
Median cash price$528
Cash as a share of list, median hospital60%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 40%. 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

2,075 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $555 and the average of the middle 60% is $566; most fall between $308 and $890.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,075 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
$225$357$555$811$1,206

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 5.4× what the cheapest tenth charges ($225 vs $1,206).

Of the 2,284 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,075 gave a usable cash price; 109 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 100 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,939 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 3,236 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,939
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here189
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded0
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded107
Hospitals that filed this code3,236

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 July 20, 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 Upper gastrointestinal X-ray family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as Radiologic Exam Upr GI Trc Single Contrast Study|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, “Barium X-ray of the upper digestive tract (CPT 74240) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-74240-barium-x-ray-of-the-upper-digestive-tract