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Procedure price report · Laboratory - Chemistry and Hematology

Sedimentation rate, manual method

CPT 85651the billing code this page is about

A blood test measuring how fast red blood cells settle in a tube, a general marker of inflammation, performed by hand rather than by machine.

Hospitals typically charge $38 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,078 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $40. Most fall between $14 and $76 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,078
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 2,078 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
$8$18$38$67$128

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 17× what the cheapest tenth charges ($8 vs $128).

How the prices are spread

$5 – $7: 102 hospitals$5$7 – $11: 118 hospitals$11 – $16: 143 hospitals$11$16 – $23: 221 hospitals$23 – $34: 272 hospitals$23$34 – $50: 348 hospitals$50 – $74: 333 hospitals$50$74 – $109: 205 hospitals$109 – $160: 95 hospitals$109$160 – $236: 40 hospitals$160median $38price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,877 of 2,078 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$5$7102
$7$11118
$11$16143
$16$23221
$23$34272
$34$50348
$50$74333
$74$109205
$109$16095
$160$23640

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $38.

Alaska: median $69 across 11 hospitalsAK$69Maine: median $31 across 17 hospitalsME$31Vermont: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $22 across 12 hospitalsNH$22Washington: median $25 across 49 hospitalsWA$25Idaho: median $56 across 13 hospitalsID$56Montana: median $43 across 26 hospitalsMT$43North Dakota: median $28 across 24 hospitalsND$28Minnesota: median $40 across 38 hospitalsMN$40Illinois: median $51 across 71 hospitalsIL$51Wisconsin: median $42 across 47 hospitalsWI$42Michigan: median $20 across 46 hospitalsMI$20New York: median $16 across 85 hospitalsNY$16Massachusetts: median $32 across 28 hospitalsMA$32Oregon: median $32 across 27 hospitalsOR$32Nevada: median $46 across 12 hospitalsNV$46Wyoming: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: median $84 across 19 hospitalsSD$84Iowa: median $34 across 44 hospitalsIA$34Indiana: median $21 across 46 hospitalsIN$21Ohio: median $47 across 62 hospitalsOH$47Pennsylvania: median $25 across 71 hospitalsPA$25New Jersey: median $5 across 46 hospitalsNJ$5Connecticut: median $17 across 14 hospitalsCT$17Rhode Island: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $92 across 131 hospitalsCA$92Utah: median $59 across 39 hospitalsUT$59Colorado: median $37 across 48 hospitalsCO$37Nebraska: median $50 across 46 hospitalsNE$50Missouri: median $33 across 43 hospitalsMO$33Kentucky: median $40 across 37 hospitalsKY$40West Virginia: median $26 across 27 hospitalsWV$26Virginia: median $32 across 30 hospitalsVA$32Maryland: median $16 across 31 hospitalsMD$16Delaware: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $53 across 32 hospitalsAZ$53New Mexico: median $47 across 13 hospitalsNM$47Kansas: median $27 across 46 hospitalsKS$27Arkansas: median $25 across 26 hospitalsAR$25Tennessee: median $31 across 57 hospitalsTN$31North Carolina: median $47 across 60 hospitalsNC$47South Carolina: median $56 across 43 hospitalsSC$56Oklahoma: median $40 across 54 hospitalsOK$40Louisiana: median $20 across 43 hospitalsLA$20Mississippi: median $20 across 52 hospitalsMS$20Alabama: median $32 across 31 hospitalsAL$32Georgia: median $45 across 64 hospitalsGA$45Hawaii: median $32 across 21 hospitalsHI$32Texas: median $79 across 184 hospitalsTX$79Florida: median $89 across 90 hospitalsFL$89
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $38. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
California CA131$92+142%$34 – $155
Florida FL90$89+134%$14 – $859
South Dakota SD19$84+121%$26 – $124
Texas TX184$79+109%$40 – $147
Alaska AK11$69+83%$45 – $92
Utah UT39$59+55%$55 – $68
South Carolina SC43$56+47%$29 – $87
Idaho ID13$56+47%$21 – $75
Arizona AZ32$53+39%$6 – $85
Illinois IL71$51+35%$20 – $76
Nebraska NE46$50+32%$13 – $64
New Mexico NM13$47+24%$42 – $78
Ohio OH62$47+24%$26 – $53
North Carolina NC60$47+24%$15 – $80
Nevada NV12$46+20%$6 – $70
Georgia GA64$45+20%$24 – $73
Montana MT26$43+13%$21 – $55
Wisconsin WI47$42+9%$20 – $43
Oklahoma OK54$40+6%$13 – $61
Kentucky KY37$40+5%$26 – $58
Minnesota MN38$40+5%$30 – $65
Colorado CO48$37−2%$23 – $104
Iowa IA44$34−12%$21 – $43
Missouri MO43$33−13%$14 – $76
Hawaii HI21$32−15%$23 – $48
Virginia VA30$32−15%$6 – $46
Oregon OR27$32−15%$17 – $73
Massachusetts MA28$32−16%$12 – $58
Alabama AL31$32−17%$12 – $86
Maine ME17$31−18%$21 – $64
Tennessee TN57$31−19%$6 – $49
North Dakota ND24$28−26%$22 – $35
Kansas KS46$27−28%$17 – $62
West Virginia WV27$26−33%$21 – $45
Washington WA49$25−33%$17 – $53
Pennsylvania PA71$25−35%$5 – $59
Arkansas AR26$25−35%$14 – $58
New Hampshire NH12$22−42%$16 – $46
Indiana IN46$21−44%$7 – $54
Louisiana LA43$20−47%$8 – $37
Mississippi MS52$20−48%$11 – $42
Michigan MI46$20−49%$12 – $42
Connecticut CT14$17−54%$13 – $22
Maryland MD31$16−57%$13 – $20
New York NY85$16−57%$7 – $53
New Jersey NJ46$5−87%$4 – $14
Wyoming WY8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT4not 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 $38.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,448$38$12 – $85
Children’s45$40$23 – $73
Critical access577$39$19 – $64
Ownership
For-profit323$65$22 – $347
Government389$38$17 – $69
Non-profit1,358$34$13 – $68
System affiliation
Part of a system1,690$40$14 – $80
Independent388$34$16 – $68

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$66
Median cash price$38
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

1,370 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $41 and the average of the middle 60% is $43; most fall between $16 and $80.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,370 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
$9$20$41$69$108

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 12× what the cheapest tenth charges ($9 vs $108).

Of the 1,526 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,370 gave a usable cash price; 85 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 71 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,078 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (53%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,295 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,078
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here126
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded3
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded88
Hospitals that filed this code2,295

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 Sed Rate; Manual.

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, “Sedimentation rate, manual method (CPT 85651) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-85651-sedimentation-rate-manual-method