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

Quantitative aerobic bacterial culture, other body site

CPT 87071the billing code this page is about

Culture of a specimen from a source other than urine, blood, or stool that counts how many oxygen-requiring bacteria are present and gives a first-level identification.

Hospitals typically charge $71 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,629 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $78. Most fall between $25 and $170 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,629
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 1,629 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
$15$32$71$140$231

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 16× what the cheapest tenth charges ($15 vs $231).

How the prices are spread

$10 – $15: 102 hospitals$10$15 – $22: 118 hospitals$22 – $33: 116 hospitals$22$33 – $48: 189 hospitals$48 – $70: 194 hospitals$48$70 – $102: 245 hospitals$102 – $149: 213 hospitals$102$149 – $218: 185 hospitals$218 – $318: 84 hospitals$218$318 – $465: 25 hospitals$318median $71price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,471 of 1,629 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$10$15102
$15$22118
$22$33116
$33$48189
$48$70194
$70$102245
$102$149213
$149$218185
$218$31884
$318$46525

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $71.

Alaska: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $66 across 24 hospitalsWA$66Idaho: median $44 across 12 hospitalsID$44Montana: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $57 across 41 hospitalsMN$57Illinois: median $118 across 74 hospitalsIL$118Wisconsin: median $80 across 46 hospitalsWI$80Michigan: median $40 across 48 hospitalsMI$40New York: median $28 across 57 hospitalsNY$28Massachusetts: median $43 across 21 hospitalsMA$43Oregon: median $70 across 26 hospitalsOR$70Nevada: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $50 across 38 hospitalsIA$50Indiana: median $62 across 56 hospitalsIN$62Ohio: median $97 across 93 hospitalsOH$97Pennsylvania: median $41 across 57 hospitalsPA$41New Jersey: median $11 across 36 hospitalsNJ$11Connecticut: median $50 across 20 hospitalsCT$50Rhode Island: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $174 across 77 hospitalsCA$174Utah: median $228 across 33 hospitalsUT$228Colorado: median $59 across 42 hospitalsCO$59Nebraska: median $51 across 15 hospitalsNE$51Missouri: median $73 across 30 hospitalsMO$73Kentucky: median $85 across 27 hospitalsKY$85West Virginia: median $133 across 13 hospitalsWV$133Virginia: median $96 across 48 hospitalsVA$96Maryland: median $110 across 27 hospitalsMD$110Delaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $97 across 28 hospitalsAZ$97New Mexico: median $38 across 15 hospitalsNM$38Kansas: median $57 across 15 hospitalsKS$57Arkansas: median $45 across 15 hospitalsAR$45Tennessee: median $24 across 45 hospitalsTN$24North Carolina: median $84 across 50 hospitalsNC$84South Carolina: median $188 across 29 hospitalsSC$188Oklahoma: median $62 across 25 hospitalsOK$62Louisiana: median $33 across 33 hospitalsLA$33Mississippi: median $22 across 35 hospitalsMS$22Alabama: median $67 across 18 hospitalsAL$67Georgia: median $60 across 45 hospitalsGA$60Hawaii: median $84 across 15 hospitalsHI$84Texas: median $134 across 156 hospitalsTX$134Florida: median $58 across 97 hospitalsFL$58
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $71. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Utah UT33$228+220%$69 – $268
South Carolina SC29$188+163%$69 – $191
California CA77$174+143%$80 – $209
Texas TX156$134+88%$37 – $206
West Virginia WV13$133+86%$124 – $163
Illinois IL74$118+65%$49 – $199
Maryland MD27$110+54%$84 – $130
Arizona AZ28$97+36%$29 – $497
Ohio OH93$97+35%$44 – $135
Virginia VA48$96+35%$15 – $277
Kentucky KY27$85+19%$53 – $115
Hawaii HI15$84+18%$49 – $116
North Carolina NC50$84+18%$60 – $139
Wisconsin WI46$80+13%$80 – $88
Missouri MO30$73+2%$49 – $98
Oregon OR26$70−2%$41 – $110
Alabama AL18$67−7%$38 – $496
Washington WA24$66−7%$36 – $91
Oklahoma OK25$62−13%$30 – $123
Indiana IN56$62−14%$15 – $191
Georgia GA45$60−16%$19 – $147
Colorado CO42$59−17%$45 – $146
Florida FL97$58−19%$25 – $277
Kansas KS15$57−20%$26 – $119
Minnesota MN41$57−20%$29 – $70
Nebraska NE15$51−29%$30 – $77
Connecticut CT20$50−29%$30 – $105
Iowa IA38$50−29%$39 – $92
Arkansas AR15$45−37%$10 – $73
Idaho ID12$44−38%$28 – $95
Massachusetts MA21$43−40%$23 – $116
Pennsylvania PA57$41−43%$9 – $116
Michigan MI48$40−44%$31 – $88
New Mexico NM15$38−47%$33 – $76
Louisiana LA33$33−54%$15 – $104
New York NY57$28−61%$10 – $101
Tennessee TN45$24−66%$16 – $133
Mississippi MS35$22−69%$12 – $47
New Jersey NJ36$11−85%$10 – $32
Wyoming WY8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE1not 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 $71.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,349$72$24 – $174
Children’s36$87$53 – $167
Critical access238$70$34 – $120
Ownership
For-profit242$85$32 – $376
Government193$61$25 – $146
Non-profit1,188$73$24 – $161
System affiliation
Part of a system1,447$73$25 – $174
Independent182$61$23 – $151

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$129
Median cash price$71
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

1,156 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 $29 and $174.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,156 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
$17$37$80$146$226

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 14× what the cheapest tenth charges ($17 vs $226).

Of the 1,262 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,156 gave a usable cash price; 65 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 41 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,629 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (41%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,747 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,629
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here73
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 — excluded43
Hospitals that filed this code1,747

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 HC Quant Culture; Aerobic.

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, “Quantitative aerobic bacterial culture, other body site (CPT 87071) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87071-quantitative-aerobic-bacterial-culture-other-body-site