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Procedure price report · Laboratory - Chemistry and Hematology

Total cortisol test

CPT 82533the billing code this page is about

A laboratory test that measures the total amount of the hormone cortisol in a sample; the hospital label refers to a saliva specimen.

Hospitals typically charge $78 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,372 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $83. Most fall between $34 and $150 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,372
States
50
Filings dated
Aug 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 3,372 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
$20$40$78$135$230

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($20 vs $230).

How the prices are spread

$14 – $20: 140 hospitals$14$20 – $27: 188 hospitals$27 – $37: 261 hospitals$27$37 – $50: 341 hospitals$50 – $69: 396 hospitals$50$69 – $94: 459 hospitals$94 – $129: 500 hospitals$94$129 – $176: 405 hospitals$176 – $242: 204 hospitals$176$242 – $331: 147 hospitals$242median $78price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (3,041 of 3,372 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$14$20140
$20$27188
$27$37261
$37$50341
$50$69396
$69$94459
$94$129500
$129$176405
$176$242204
$242$331147

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $78.

Alaska: median $135 across 19 hospitalsAK$135Maine: median $69 across 28 hospitalsME$69Vermont: median $100 across 14 hospitalsVT$100New Hampshire: median $91 across 25 hospitalsNH$91Washington: median $91 across 77 hospitalsWA$91Idaho: median $56 across 24 hospitalsID$56Montana: median $98 across 31 hospitalsMT$98North Dakota: median $86 across 33 hospitalsND$86Minnesota: median $65 across 107 hospitalsMN$65Illinois: median $110 across 146 hospitalsIL$110Wisconsin: median $118 across 108 hospitalsWI$118Michigan: median $34 across 93 hospitalsMI$34New York: median $40 across 119 hospitalsNY$40Massachusetts: median $109 across 54 hospitalsMA$109Oregon: median $77 across 50 hospitalsOR$77Nevada: median $80 across 20 hospitalsNV$80Wyoming: median $42 across 16 hospitalsWY$42South Dakota: median $127 across 41 hospitalsSD$127Iowa: median $79 across 88 hospitalsIA$79Indiana: median $64 across 96 hospitalsIN$64Ohio: median $73 across 142 hospitalsOH$73Pennsylvania: median $82 across 122 hospitalsPA$82New Jersey: median $19 across 57 hospitalsNJ$19Connecticut: median $76 across 23 hospitalsCT$76Rhode Island: median $143 across 10 hospitalsRI$143California: median $99 across 153 hospitalsCA$99Utah: median $86 across 43 hospitalsUT$86Colorado: median $94 across 70 hospitalsCO$94Nebraska: median $131 across 83 hospitalsNE$131Missouri: median $73 across 77 hospitalsMO$73Kentucky: median $63 across 69 hospitalsKY$63West Virginia: median $50 across 43 hospitalsWV$50Virginia: median $82 across 73 hospitalsVA$82Maryland: median $40 across 42 hospitalsMD$40Delaware: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $87 across 42 hospitalsAZ$87New Mexico: median $102 across 29 hospitalsNM$102Kansas: median $95 across 92 hospitalsKS$95Arkansas: median $55 across 40 hospitalsAR$55Tennessee: median $54 across 83 hospitalsTN$54North Carolina: median $59 across 86 hospitalsNC$59South Carolina: median $118 across 53 hospitalsSC$118Oklahoma: median $70 across 74 hospitalsOK$70Louisiana: median $49 across 52 hospitalsLA$49Mississippi: median $45 across 56 hospitalsMS$45Alabama: median $78 across 44 hospitalsAL$78Georgia: median $90 across 110 hospitalsGA$90Hawaii: median $93 across 19 hospitalsHI$93Texas: median $82 across 244 hospitalsTX$82Florida: median $79 across 145 hospitalsFL$79
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $78. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Rhode Island RI10$143+83%$42 – $157
Alaska AK19$135+73%$20 – $219
Nebraska NE83$131+67%$47 – $174
South Dakota SD41$127+62%$68 – $188
South Carolina SC53$118+51%$65 – $145
Wisconsin WI108$118+50%$66 – $144
Illinois IL146$110+41%$42 – $192
Massachusetts MA54$109+39%$47 – $156
New Mexico NM29$102+31%$63 – $140
Vermont VT14$100+28%$46 – $143
California CA153$99+27%$10 – $283
Montana MT31$98+25%$47 – $125
Kansas KS92$95+22%$66 – $129
Colorado CO70$94+20%$36 – $214
Hawaii HI19$93+19%$56 – $144
New Hampshire NH25$91+17%$16 – $186
Washington WA77$91+16%$47 – $142
Georgia GA110$90+16%$39 – $179
Arizona AZ42$87+12%$21 – $338
North Dakota ND33$86+10%$29 – $117
Utah UT43$86+10%$73 – $181
Pennsylvania PA122$82+5%$25 – $192
Virginia VA73$82+4%$29 – $163
Texas TX244$82+4%$34 – $267
Nevada NV20$80+2%$25 – $115
Florida FL145$79+1%$18 – $234
Iowa IA88$79+1%$48 – $141
Alabama AL44$780%$36 – $192
Oregon OR50$77−1%$49 – $117
Connecticut CT23$76−3%$58 – $136
Missouri MO77$73−6%$44 – $147
Ohio OH142$73−7%$41 – $111
Oklahoma OK74$70−10%$31 – $117
Maine ME28$69−12%$32 – $185
Minnesota MN107$65−17%$29 – $133
Indiana IN96$64−19%$31 – $119
Kentucky KY69$63−20%$44 – $188
North Carolina NC86$59−24%$37 – $121
Idaho ID24$56−29%$48 – $86
Arkansas AR40$55−29%$21 – $65
Tennessee TN83$54−31%$29 – $108
West Virginia WV43$50−36%$20 – $134
Louisiana LA52$49−37%$29 – $89
Mississippi MS56$45−43%$29 – $96
Wyoming WY16$42−46%$36 – $146
New York NY119$40−49%$20 – $161
Maryland MD42$40−49%$31 – $49
Michigan MI93$34−56%$21 – $65
New Jersey NJ57$19−76%$18 – $56
Delaware DE7not 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 $78.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,304$73$31 – $159
Children’s67$98$37 – $170
Critical access992$85$43 – $141
Ownership
For-profit464$97$36 – $312
Government641$79$37 – $140
Non-profit2,258$75$34 – $142
System affiliation
Part of a system2,723$79$34 – $156
Independent649$76$36 – $133

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$130
Median cash price$78
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

2,271 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $80 and the average of the middle 60% is $85; most fall between $36 and $150.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,271 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
$22$42$80$135$227

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 10× what the cheapest tenth charges ($22 vs $227).

Of the 2,514 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,271 gave a usable cash price; 130 carried a plausibility flag, 1 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 112 a list price only.

How complete is this

3,372 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (85%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,695 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,372
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here185
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 — excluded136
Hospitals that filed this code3,695

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 Laboratory - Chemistry and Hematology family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as HC Cortisol, Random.

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, “Total cortisol test (CPT 82533) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-82533-total-cortisol-test