HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

Procedure price report · Pathology

MTHFR gene test for common variants

CPT 81291the billing code this page is about

A laboratory test on a blood sample that checks the MTHFR gene for its two most common variants, which affect how the body processes folate.

Hospitals typically charge $167 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,699 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $189. Most fall between $82 and $382 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,699
States
50
Filings dated
Dec 2022 – 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 2,699 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
$61$94$167$318$560

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($61 vs $560).

How the prices are spread

$44 – $59: 113 hospitals$44$59 – $79: 259 hospitals$79 – $106: 307 hospitals$79$106 – $142: 345 hospitals$142 – $191: 315 hospitals$142$191 – $256: 302 hospitals$256 – $344: 304 hospitals$256$344 – $461: 227 hospitals$461 – $619: 157 hospitals$461$619 – $830: 102 hospitals$619median $167price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,431 of 2,699 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$44$59113
$59$79259
$79$106307
$106$142345
$142$191315
$191$256302
$256$344304
$344$461227
$461$619157
$619$830102

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $167.

Alaska: median $421 across 12 hospitalsAK$421Maine: median $146 across 18 hospitalsME$146Vermont: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $247 across 20 hospitalsNH$247Washington: median $205 across 68 hospitalsWA$205Idaho: median $185 across 19 hospitalsID$185Montana: median $169 across 15 hospitalsMT$169North Dakota: median $124 across 19 hospitalsND$124Minnesota: median $123 across 53 hospitalsMN$123Illinois: median $312 across 110 hospitalsIL$312Wisconsin: median $251 across 84 hospitalsWI$251Michigan: median $108 across 61 hospitalsMI$108New York: median $157 across 92 hospitalsNY$157Massachusetts: median $223 across 43 hospitalsMA$223Oregon: median $177 across 34 hospitalsOR$177Nevada: median $189 across 18 hospitalsNV$189Wyoming: median $226 across 14 hospitalsWY$226South Dakota: median $274 across 15 hospitalsSD$274Iowa: median $193 across 55 hospitalsIA$193Indiana: median $187 across 94 hospitalsIN$187Ohio: median $227 across 128 hospitalsOH$227Pennsylvania: median $267 across 115 hospitalsPA$267New Jersey: median $75 across 51 hospitalsNJ$75Connecticut: median $162 across 17 hospitalsCT$162Rhode Island: median $162 across 10 hospitalsRI$162California: median $134 across 125 hospitalsCA$134Utah: median $288 across 38 hospitalsUT$288Colorado: median $204 across 60 hospitalsCO$204Nebraska: median $258 across 53 hospitalsNE$258Missouri: median $189 across 71 hospitalsMO$189Kentucky: median $164 across 62 hospitalsKY$164West Virginia: median $114 across 33 hospitalsWV$114Virginia: median $138 across 65 hospitalsVA$138Maryland: median $164 across 37 hospitalsMD$164Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $257 across 33 hospitalsAZ$257New Mexico: median $252 across 21 hospitalsNM$252Kansas: median $215 across 64 hospitalsKS$215Arkansas: median $58 across 33 hospitalsAR$58Tennessee: median $115 across 71 hospitalsTN$115North Carolina: median $106 across 77 hospitalsNC$106South Carolina: median $315 across 43 hospitalsSC$315Oklahoma: median $152 across 65 hospitalsOK$152Louisiana: median $130 across 47 hospitalsLA$130Mississippi: median $112 across 45 hospitalsMS$112Alabama: median $142 across 25 hospitalsAL$142Georgia: median $263 across 93 hospitalsGA$263Hawaii: median $174 across 15 hospitalsHI$174Texas: median $123 across 209 hospitalsTX$123Florida: median $79 across 135 hospitalsFL$79
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $167. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Alaska AK12$421+152%$210 – $741
South Carolina SC43$315+88%$149 – $404
Illinois IL110$312+87%$134 – $662
Utah UT38$288+72%$165 – $339
South Dakota SD15$274+64%$127 – $487
Pennsylvania PA115$267+60%$82 – $424
Georgia GA93$263+57%$96 – $480
Nebraska NE53$258+54%$106 – $536
Arizona AZ33$257+54%$75 – $382
New Mexico NM21$252+51%$131 – $424
Wisconsin WI84$251+50%$128 – $451
New Hampshire NH20$247+48%$93 – $467
Ohio OH128$227+36%$133 – $397
Wyoming WY14$226+35%$142 – $405
Massachusetts MA43$223+33%$145 – $306
Kansas KS64$215+29%$105 – $374
Washington WA68$205+23%$142 – $339
Colorado CO60$204+22%$105 – $374
Iowa IA55$193+16%$123 – $439
Nevada NV18$189+13%$62 – $423
Missouri MO71$189+13%$131 – $299
Indiana IN94$187+12%$97 – $421
Idaho ID19$185+11%$101 – $425
Oregon OR34$177+6%$111 – $238
Hawaii HI15$174+4%$112 – $267
Montana MT15$169+1%$140 – $306
Maryland MD37$164−2%$72 – $250
Kentucky KY62$164−2%$119 – $790
Connecticut CT17$162−3%$98 – $277
Rhode Island RI10$162−3%$101 – $374
New York NY92$157−6%$65 – $310
Oklahoma OK65$152−9%$115 – $320
Maine ME18$146−13%$73 – $267
Alabama AL25$142−15%$65 – $213
Virginia VA65$138−18%$68 – $300
California CA125$134−20%$55 – $158
Louisiana LA47$130−22%$75 – $310
North Dakota ND19$124−26%$100 – $398
Texas TX209$123−26%$75 – $550
Minnesota MN53$123−27%$92 – $234
Tennessee TN71$115−31%$76 – $213
West Virginia WV33$114−32%$86 – $299
Mississippi MS45$112−33%$66 – $223
Michigan MI61$108−35%$49 – $287
North Carolina NC77$106−37%$70 – $337
Florida FL135$79−53%$49 – $215
New Jersey NJ51$75−55%$65 – $214
Arkansas AR33$58−66%$29 – $213
Vermont VT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
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 $167.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,981$152$75 – $374
Children’s42$142$60 – $324
Critical access667$213$116 – $421
Ownership
For-profit366$186$70 – $505
Government473$193$93 – $392
Non-profit1,851$161$81 – $358
System affiliation
Part of a system2,206$161$80 – $387
Independent493$196$94 – $366

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$291
Median cash price$167
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

1,829 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $174 and the average of the middle 60% is $197; most fall between $86 and $382.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,829 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
$63$99$174$328$560

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.8× what the cheapest tenth charges ($63 vs $560).

Of the 2,039 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,829 gave a usable cash price; 116 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 94 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,699 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (68%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,959 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,699
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here145
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded1
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded113
Hospitals that filed this code2,959

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 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 Pathology family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as HC Mthfr Mutation Analysis.

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, “MTHFR gene test for common variants (CPT 81291) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-81291-mthfr-gene-test-for-common-variants