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Procedure price report · Laboratory - Chemistry and Hematology

Blood test for iron level

CPT 83540the billing code this page is about

Measures the amount of iron circulating in a blood sample.

Hospitals typically charge $45 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,401 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $47. Most fall between $19 and $87 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,401
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 3,401 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
$11$22$45$78$132

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($11 vs $132).

How the prices are spread

$7 – $10: 123 hospitals$7$10 – $14: 175 hospitals$14 – $20: 265 hospitals$14$20 – $28: 304 hospitals$28 – $38: 461 hospitals$28$38 – $53: 494 hospitals$53 – $74: 493 hospitals$53$74 – $102: 395 hospitals$102 – $142: 239 hospitals$102$142 – $197: 117 hospitals$142median $45price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (3,066 of 3,401 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$7$10123
$10$14175
$14$20265
$20$28304
$28$38461
$38$53494
$53$74493
$74$102395
$102$142239
$142$197117

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $45.

Alaska: median $99 across 19 hospitalsAK$99Maine: median $36 across 28 hospitalsME$36Vermont: median $60 across 14 hospitalsVT$60New Hampshire: median $42 across 25 hospitalsNH$42Washington: median $45 across 77 hospitalsWA$45Idaho: median $36 across 25 hospitalsID$36Montana: median $50 across 31 hospitalsMT$50North Dakota: median $46 across 33 hospitalsND$46Minnesota: median $42 across 106 hospitalsMN$42Illinois: median $79 across 141 hospitalsIL$79Wisconsin: median $58 across 107 hospitalsWI$58Michigan: median $29 across 101 hospitalsMI$29New York: median $23 across 120 hospitalsNY$23Massachusetts: median $44 across 53 hospitalsMA$44Oregon: median $33 across 51 hospitalsOR$33Nevada: median $69 across 21 hospitalsNV$69Wyoming: median $46 across 16 hospitalsWY$46South Dakota: median $83 across 41 hospitalsSD$83Iowa: median $40 across 89 hospitalsIA$40Indiana: median $36 across 96 hospitalsIN$36Ohio: median $38 across 143 hospitalsOH$38Pennsylvania: median $32 across 122 hospitalsPA$32New Jersey: median $7 across 57 hospitalsNJ$7Connecticut: median $30 across 23 hospitalsCT$30Rhode Island: median $44 across 10 hospitalsRI$44California: median $80 across 159 hospitalsCA$80Utah: median $46 across 42 hospitalsUT$46Colorado: median $62 across 72 hospitalsCO$62Nebraska: median $60 across 82 hospitalsNE$60Missouri: median $36 across 78 hospitalsMO$36Kentucky: median $60 across 69 hospitalsKY$60West Virginia: median $32 across 44 hospitalsWV$32Virginia: median $62 across 73 hospitalsVA$62Maryland: median $16 across 41 hospitalsMD$16Delaware: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $51 across 42 hospitalsAZ$51New Mexico: median $60 across 29 hospitalsNM$60Kansas: median $40 across 92 hospitalsKS$40Arkansas: median $18 across 40 hospitalsAR$18Tennessee: median $22 across 83 hospitalsTN$22North Carolina: median $46 across 86 hospitalsNC$46South Carolina: median $62 across 53 hospitalsSC$62Oklahoma: median $34 across 73 hospitalsOK$34Louisiana: median $22 across 54 hospitalsLA$22Mississippi: median $20 across 54 hospitalsMS$20Alabama: median $29 across 44 hospitalsAL$29Georgia: median $46 across 111 hospitalsGA$46Hawaii: median $39 across 21 hospitalsHI$39Texas: median $71 across 249 hospitalsTX$71Florida: median $55 across 154 hospitalsFL$55
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $45. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Alaska AK19$99+122%$57 – $149
South Dakota SD41$83+86%$48 – $122
California CA159$80+79%$22 – $140
Illinois IL141$79+77%$40 – $120
Texas TX249$71+58%$25 – $176
Nevada NV21$69+53%$31 – $94
Colorado CO72$62+38%$38 – $170
Virginia VA73$62+38%$28 – $120
South Carolina SC53$62+38%$34 – $67
Kentucky KY69$60+34%$25 – $117
Vermont VT14$60+34%$18 – $85
Nebraska NE82$60+34%$33 – $82
New Mexico NM29$60+33%$43 – $93
Wisconsin WI107$58+29%$36 – $74
Florida FL154$55+22%$17 – $185
Arizona AZ42$51+13%$11 – $176
Montana MT31$50+12%$28 – $67
Wyoming WY16$46+4%$13 – $75
Georgia GA111$46+3%$17 – $99
North Carolina NC86$46+3%$28 – $85
North Dakota ND33$46+3%$12 – $54
Utah UT42$46+2%$39 – $60
Washington WA77$450%$27 – $72
Massachusetts MA53$44−1%$21 – $71
Rhode Island RI10$44−2%$18 – $72
Minnesota MN106$42−6%$25 – $74
New Hampshire NH25$42−7%$24 – $104
Iowa IA89$40−10%$30 – $62
Kansas KS92$40−11%$27 – $64
Hawaii HI21$39−12%$32 – $60
Ohio OH143$38−16%$25 – $65
Missouri MO78$36−19%$25 – $79
Maine ME28$36−19%$18 – $77
Idaho ID25$36−20%$7 – $70
Indiana IN96$36−20%$13 – $69
Oklahoma OK73$34−23%$19 – $55
Oregon OR51$33−27%$19 – $51
Pennsylvania PA122$32−28%$11 – $83
West Virginia WV44$32−29%$19 – $72
Connecticut CT23$30−33%$24 – $72
Alabama AL44$29−34%$16 – $126
Michigan MI101$29−35%$15 – $36
New York NY120$23−48%$9 – $87
Louisiana LA54$22−51%$11 – $48
Tennessee TN83$22−51%$13 – $48
Mississippi MS54$20−55%$11 – $39
Arkansas AR40$18−61%$9 – $40
Maryland MD41$16−64%$13 – $20
New Jersey NJ57$7−83%$7 – $22
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 $45.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,330$43$17 – $92
Children’s66$58$33 – $126
Critical access995$48$26 – $78
Ownership
For-profit471$68$21 – $224
Government649$45$20 – $78
Non-profit2,271$42$18 – $80
System affiliation
Part of a system2,741$45$18 – $89
Independent660$44$22 – $82

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$76
Median cash price$45
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

2,292 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $46 and the average of the middle 60% is $48; most fall between $20 and $86.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,292 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
$13$25$46$79$126

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.9× what the cheapest tenth charges ($13 vs $126).

Of the 2,540 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,292 gave a usable cash price; 136 carried a plausibility flag, 0 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

3,401 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (86%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,710 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,401
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here175
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 — excluded133
Hospitals that filed this code3,710

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 Iron-Total Serum.

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, “Blood test for iron level (CPT 83540) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-83540-blood-test-for-iron-level