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

Microscope exam of urine only

CPT 81015the billing code this page is about

Examination of urine under a microscope for cells, crystals, bacteria, and other particles, without the chemical dipstick portion.

Hospitals typically charge $23 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,604 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $24. Most fall between $10 and $46 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,604
States
50
Filings dated
Mar 2023 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 25, 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 2,604 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
$6$12$23$40$70

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($6 vs $70).

How the prices are spread

$4 – $5: 72 hospitals$4$5 – $7: 120 hospitals$7 – $10: 199 hospitals$7$10 – $14: 265 hospitals$14 – $20: 316 hospitals$14$20 – $28: 442 hospitals$28 – $39: 391 hospitals$28$39 – $55: 257 hospitals$55 – $77: 198 hospitals$55$77 – $108: 85 hospitals$77median $23price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,345 of 2,604 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$4$572
$5$7120
$7$10199
$10$14265
$14$20316
$20$28442
$28$39391
$39$55257
$55$77198
$77$10885

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $23.

Alaska: median $51 across 14 hospitalsAK$51Maine: median $30 across 27 hospitalsME$30Vermont: median $33 across 12 hospitalsVT$33New Hampshire: median $30 across 19 hospitalsNH$30Washington: median $23 across 68 hospitalsWA$23Idaho: median $23 across 19 hospitalsID$23Montana: median $22 across 31 hospitalsMT$22North Dakota: median $21 across 20 hospitalsND$21Minnesota: median $24 across 99 hospitalsMN$24Illinois: median $38 across 112 hospitalsIL$38Wisconsin: median $22 across 101 hospitalsWI$22Michigan: median $13 across 63 hospitalsMI$13New York: median $13 across 94 hospitalsNY$13Massachusetts: median $18 across 44 hospitalsMA$18Oregon: median $14 across 43 hospitalsOR$14Nevada: median $16 across 17 hospitalsNV$16Wyoming: median $23 across 13 hospitalsWY$23South Dakota: median $55 across 36 hospitalsSD$55Iowa: median $26 across 77 hospitalsIA$26Indiana: median $19 across 82 hospitalsIN$19Ohio: median $16 across 105 hospitalsOH$16Pennsylvania: median $13 across 86 hospitalsPA$13New Jersey: median $3 across 51 hospitalsNJ$3Connecticut: median $15 across 19 hospitalsCT$15Rhode Island: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $42 across 127 hospitalsCA$42Utah: median $22 across 35 hospitalsUT$22Colorado: median $37 across 66 hospitalsCO$37Nebraska: median $32 across 70 hospitalsNE$32Missouri: median $24 across 66 hospitalsMO$24Kentucky: median $28 across 54 hospitalsKY$28West Virginia: median $23 across 33 hospitalsWV$23Virginia: median $22 across 48 hospitalsVA$22Maryland: median $12 across 25 hospitalsMD$12Delaware: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $31 across 34 hospitalsAZ$31New Mexico: median $26 across 15 hospitalsNM$26Kansas: median $17 across 70 hospitalsKS$17Arkansas: median $18 across 35 hospitalsAR$18Tennessee: median $10 across 45 hospitalsTN$10North Carolina: median $24 across 72 hospitalsNC$24South Carolina: median $26 across 43 hospitalsSC$26Oklahoma: median $12 across 56 hospitalsOK$12Louisiana: median $12 across 28 hospitalsLA$12Mississippi: median $11 across 33 hospitalsMS$11Alabama: median $14 across 29 hospitalsAL$14Georgia: median $16 across 81 hospitalsGA$16Hawaii: median $19 across 20 hospitalsHI$19Texas: median $38 across 189 hospitalsTX$38Florida: median $39 across 69 hospitalsFL$39
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $23. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
South Dakota SD36$55+141%$27 – $79
Alaska AK14$51+125%$16 – $67
California CA127$42+83%$20 – $110
Florida FL69$39+69%$8 – $158
Texas TX189$38+67%$16 – $79
Illinois IL112$38+64%$15 – $64
Colorado CO66$37+60%$22 – $102
Vermont VT12$33+44%$19 – $54
Nebraska NE70$32+40%$20 – $44
Arizona AZ34$31+34%$5 – $65
Maine ME27$30+31%$10 – $41
New Hampshire NH19$30+30%$19 – $76
Kentucky KY54$28+23%$14 – $54
South Carolina SC43$26+15%$18 – $27
Iowa IA77$26+13%$18 – $39
New Mexico NM15$26+12%$16 – $36
Minnesota MN99$24+6%$12 – $38
Missouri MO66$24+6%$9 – $53
North Carolina NC72$24+5%$12 – $51
West Virginia WV33$23+1%$16 – $36
Idaho ID19$230%$18 – $30
Wyoming WY13$230%$6 – $35
Washington WA68$230%$15 – $40
Montana MT31$22−3%$15 – $33
Wisconsin WI101$22−3%$16 – $36
Virginia VA48$22−4%$10 – $38
Utah UT35$22−5%$17 – $25
North Dakota ND20$21−9%$16 – $23
Hawaii HI20$19−16%$16 – $30
Indiana IN82$19−17%$7 – $44
Arkansas AR35$18−21%$8 – $25
Massachusetts MA44$18−21%$10 – $32
Kansas KS70$17−25%$12 – $27
Ohio OH105$16−29%$11 – $41
Nevada NV17$16−30%$5 – $44
Georgia GA81$16−30%$10 – $39
Connecticut CT19$15−37%$9 – $34
Alabama AL29$14−40%$6 – $45
Oregon OR43$14−41%$8 – $31
New York NY94$13−43%$5 – $49
Michigan MI63$13−44%$10 – $23
Pennsylvania PA86$13−44%$4 – $53
Oklahoma OK56$12−46%$8 – $28
Maryland MD25$12−47%$9 – $16
Louisiana LA28$12−48%$5 – $32
Mississippi MS33$11−51%$6 – $29
Tennessee TN45$10−58%$5 – $18
New Jersey NJ51$3−85%$3 – $19
Rhode Island RI6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE3not 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 $23.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,779$22$9 – $48
Children’s46$32$18 – $77
Critical access771$26$13 – $42
Ownership
For-profit320$28$10 – $79
Government468$24$11 – $41
Non-profit1,808$22$10 – $44
System affiliation
Part of a system2,150$23$10 – $48
Independent454$23$11 – $43

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$39
Median cash price$23
Cash as a share of list, median hospital64%

At the typical hospital, asking for the cash price cuts the list price by about 36%. 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

1,797 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $23 and the average of the middle 60% is $25; most fall between $11 and $49.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,797 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$13$23$42$70

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.7× what the cheapest tenth charges ($7 vs $70).

Of the 1,980 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,797 gave a usable cash price; 103 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 80 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,604 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (66%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,834 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,604
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here129
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded100
Hospitals that filed this code2,834

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 September 4, 2026 and September 25, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 25, 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 PR Occ Hlth Lab - Ua Complete.

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, “Microscope exam of urine only (CPT 81015) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-81015-microscope-exam-of-urine-only