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Procedure price report · Microscopic examination (bacterial smear, culture, toxicology)

Urine test with dipstick and microscope exam, by hand

CPT 81000the billing code this page is about

A urine sample checked by hand with a chemical dipstick for items such as protein, glucose and blood, plus examination of the urine sediment under a microscope.

Hospitals typically charge $19 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,392 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $21. Most fall between $8 and $44 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,392
States
49
Filings dated
Dec 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 1,392 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
$5$9$19$39$79

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 16× what the cheapest tenth charges ($5 vs $79).

How the prices are spread

$4 – $6: 118 hospitals$4$6 – $8: 105 hospitals$8 – $12: 146 hospitals$8$12 – $17: 185 hospitals$17 – $24: 180 hospitals$17$24 – $34: 187 hospitals$34 – $48: 165 hospitals$34$48 – $68: 74 hospitals$68 – $97: 65 hospitals$68$97 – $138: 38 hospitals$97median $19price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,263 of 1,392 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$4$6118
$6$8105
$8$12146
$12$17185
$17$24180
$24$34187
$34$48165
$48$6874
$68$9765
$97$13838

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $19.

Alaska: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $23 across 20 hospitalsME$23Vermont: median $18 across 11 hospitalsVT$18New Hampshire: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $16 across 39 hospitalsWA$16Idaho: median $26 across 15 hospitalsID$26Montana: median $17 across 10 hospitalsMT$17North Dakota: median $26 across 11 hospitalsND$26Minnesota: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMNIllinois: median $25 across 38 hospitalsIL$25Wisconsin: median $16 across 34 hospitalsWI$16Michigan: median $14 across 69 hospitalsMI$14New York: median $10 across 74 hospitalsNY$10Massachusetts: median $20 across 28 hospitalsMA$20Oregon: median $16 across 20 hospitalsOR$16Nevada: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $26 across 34 hospitalsIA$26Indiana: median $10 across 40 hospitalsIN$10Ohio: median $18 across 73 hospitalsOH$18Pennsylvania: median $12 across 64 hospitalsPA$12New Jersey: median $4 across 43 hospitalsNJ$4Connecticut: median $9 across 10 hospitalsCT$9Rhode Island: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $32 across 75 hospitalsCA$32Utah: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureUTColorado: median $47 across 25 hospitalsCO$47Nebraska: median $35 across 27 hospitalsNE$35Missouri: median $26 across 29 hospitalsMO$26Kentucky: median $12 across 38 hospitalsKY$12West Virginia: median $16 across 28 hospitalsWV$16Virginia: median $11 across 17 hospitalsVA$11Maryland: median $22 across 12 hospitalsMD$22Delaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: median $20 across 22 hospitalsAZ$20New Mexico: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $20 across 34 hospitalsKS$20Arkansas: median $15 across 17 hospitalsAR$15Tennessee: median $14 across 25 hospitalsTN$14North Carolina: median $32 across 23 hospitalsNC$32South Carolina: median $16 across 28 hospitalsSC$16Oklahoma: median $14 across 36 hospitalsOK$14Louisiana: median $8 across 33 hospitalsLA$8Mississippi: median $18 across 21 hospitalsMS$18Alabama: median $16 across 13 hospitalsAL$16Georgia: median $39 across 53 hospitalsGA$39Hawaii: median $19 across 14 hospitalsHI$19Texas: median $39 across 92 hospitalsTX$39Florida: median $30 across 39 hospitalsFL$30
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $19. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Colorado CO25$47+147%$13 – $130
Texas TX92$39+107%$14 – $139
Georgia GA53$39+104%$9 – $77
Nebraska NE27$35+84%$12 – $41
North Carolina NC23$32+68%$6 – $40
California CA75$32+67%$18 – $166
Florida FL39$30+55%$12 – $179
North Dakota ND11$26+39%$20 – $42
Missouri MO29$26+36%$9 – $44
Iowa IA34$26+35%$12 – $39
Idaho ID15$26+35%$18 – $31
Illinois IL38$25+32%$9 – $56
Maine ME20$23+23%$9 – $41
Maryland MD12$22+15%$12 – $32
Arizona AZ22$20+5%$8 – $90
Massachusetts MA28$20+5%$9 – $32
Kansas KS34$20+4%$12 – $46
Hawaii HI14$19+1%$4 – $29
Ohio OH73$18−4%$9 – $45
Vermont VT11$18−5%$16 – $24
Mississippi MS21$18−7%$10 – $30
Montana MT10$17−11%$9 – $24
Oregon OR20$16−15%$7 – $43
Washington WA39$16−16%$9 – $38
West Virginia WV28$16−16%$9 – $25
South Carolina SC28$16−18%$12 – $27
Alabama AL13$16−18%$7 – $25
Wisconsin WI34$16−18%$10 – $41
Arkansas AR17$15−21%$6 – $54
Michigan MI69$14−24%$6 – $18
Oklahoma OK36$14−28%$9 – $26
Tennessee TN25$14−29%$5 – $36
Kentucky KY38$12−37%$5 – $58
Pennsylvania PA64$12−37%$4 – $33
Virginia VA17$11−42%$10 – $21
New York NY74$10−48%$5 – $25
Indiana IN40$10−48%$5 – $29
Connecticut CT10$9−54%$7 – $13
Louisiana LA33$8−59%$4 – $20
New Jersey NJ43$4−77%$4 – $20
Minnesota MN9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Utah UT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI2not 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 $19.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,038$18$7 – $45
Children’s23$17$12 – $31
Critical access328$24$10 – $44
Ownership
For-profit179$26$9 – $101
Government237$23$9 – $45
Non-profit973$18$8 – $39
System affiliation
Part of a system1,119$18$8 – $43
Independent273$20$7 – $45

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$32
Median cash price$19
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

944 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $21 and the average of the middle 60% is $23; most fall between $9 and $45.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 944 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
$7$11$21$39$93

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 14× what the cheapest tenth charges ($7 vs $93).

Of the 1,033 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 944 gave a usable cash price; 41 carried a plausibility flag, 1 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 47 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,392 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (35%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,498 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,392
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here57
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded2
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded47
Hospitals that filed this code1,498

Sections not shown for this setting

  • Against Medicare: Medicare has no separately payable national outpatient (OPPS) rate for this code, so there is nothing honest to compare against.
  • 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 Microscopic examination (bacterial smear, culture, toxicology) family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as URINALYSIS NONAUTO W/SCOPE.

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, “Urine test with dipstick and microscope exam, by hand (CPT 81000) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-81000-urine-test-with-dipstick-and-microscope-exam-by-hand