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

Strep A antigen test

CPT 87430the billing code this page is about

A laboratory immunoassay that looks for group A streptococcus antigen in a throat swab, used to check for strep throat.

Hospitals typically charge $61 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,578 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $65. Most fall between $27 and $124 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,578
States
50
Filings dated
Dec 2022 – Sep 2026
Computed
September 25, 2026
Prices checked
through September 24, 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 1,578 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
$19$31$61$108$209

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 11× what the cheapest tenth charges ($19 vs $209).

How the prices are spread

$16 – $22: 166 hospitals$16$22 – $30: 142 hospitals$30 – $41: 164 hospitals$30$41 – $57: 199 hospitals$57 – $78: 202 hospitals$57$78 – $108: 234 hospitals$108 – $148: 159 hospitals$108$148 – $204: 73 hospitals$204 – $280: 62 hospitals$204$280 – $386: 24 hospitals$280median $61price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,425 of 1,578 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$16$22166
$22$30142
$30$41164
$41$57199
$57$78202
$78$108234
$108$148159
$148$20473
$204$28062
$280$38624

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $61.

Alaska: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $44 across 13 hospitalsME$44Vermont: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $61 across 11 hospitalsNH$61Washington: median $66 across 41 hospitalsWA$66Idaho: median $75 across 15 hospitalsID$75Montana: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: median $88 across 10 hospitalsND$88Minnesota: median $58 across 12 hospitalsMN$58Illinois: median $51 across 63 hospitalsIL$51Wisconsin: median $20 across 26 hospitalsWI$20Michigan: median $33 across 20 hospitalsMI$33New York: median $49 across 57 hospitalsNY$49Massachusetts: median $52 across 26 hospitalsMA$52Oregon: median $72 across 18 hospitalsOR$72Nevada: median $72 across 10 hospitalsNV$72Wyoming: 6 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 $39 across 32 hospitalsIA$39Indiana: median $59 across 44 hospitalsIN$59Ohio: median $70 across 45 hospitalsOH$70Pennsylvania: median $38 across 75 hospitalsPA$38New Jersey: median $18 across 43 hospitalsNJ$18Connecticut: median $50 across 10 hospitalsCT$50Rhode Island: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $113 across 88 hospitalsCA$113Utah: median $117 across 32 hospitalsUT$117Colorado: median $70 across 53 hospitalsCO$70Nebraska: median $70 across 34 hospitalsNE$70Missouri: median $68 across 40 hospitalsMO$68Kentucky: median $48 across 26 hospitalsKY$48West Virginia: median $27 across 23 hospitalsWV$27Virginia: median $84 across 39 hospitalsVA$84Maryland: median $50 across 13 hospitalsMD$50Delaware: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $34 across 25 hospitalsAZ$34New Mexico: median $50 across 16 hospitalsNM$50Kansas: median $71 across 31 hospitalsKS$71Arkansas: median $57 across 17 hospitalsAR$57Tennessee: median $50 across 43 hospitalsTN$50North Carolina: median $65 across 59 hospitalsNC$65South Carolina: median $81 across 30 hospitalsSC$81Oklahoma: median $50 across 39 hospitalsOK$50Louisiana: median $46 across 18 hospitalsLA$46Mississippi: median $29 across 23 hospitalsMS$29Alabama: median $43 across 20 hospitalsAL$43Georgia: median $34 across 59 hospitalsGA$34Hawaii: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $104 across 142 hospitalsTX$104Florida: median $155 across 96 hospitalsFL$155
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $61. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Florida FL96$155+154%$35 – $600
Utah UT32$117+91%$79 – $137
California CA88$113+85%$66 – $214
Texas TX142$104+71%$35 – $231
North Dakota ND10$88+44%$74 – $105
Virginia VA39$84+37%$30 – $416
South Carolina SC30$81+33%$35 – $92
Idaho ID15$75+23%$36 – $99
Oregon OR18$72+18%$52 – $76
Nevada NV10$72+18%$18 – $118
Kansas KS31$71+17%$25 – $93
Ohio OH45$70+15%$29 – $75
Nebraska NE34$70+15%$43 – $100
Colorado CO53$70+15%$48 – $175
Missouri MO40$68+12%$25 – $105
Washington WA41$66+8%$36 – $111
North Carolina NC59$65+7%$45 – $125
New Hampshire NH11$610%$50 – $69
Indiana IN44$59−4%$19 – $143
Minnesota MN12$58−4%$31 – $87
Arkansas AR17$57−6%$23 – $94
Massachusetts MA26$52−15%$37 – $97
Illinois IL63$51−16%$22 – $142
Connecticut CT10$50−17%$36 – $57
Oklahoma OK39$50−17%$24 – $97
Maryland MD13$50−18%$15 – $82
New Mexico NM16$50−19%$40 – $76
Tennessee TN43$50−19%$28 – $347
New York NY57$49−19%$17 – $75
Kentucky KY26$48−21%$36 – $143
Louisiana LA18$46−25%$28 – $95
Maine ME13$44−28%$18 – $148
Alabama AL20$43−29%$20 – $253
Iowa IA32$39−37%$39 – $62
Pennsylvania PA75$38−38%$19 – $87
Arizona AZ25$34−44%$19 – $57
Georgia GA59$34−45%$23 – $56
Michigan MI20$33−45%$16 – $49
Mississippi MS23$29−52%$19 – $56
West Virginia WV23$27−56%$27 – $35
Wisconsin WI26$20−67%$20 – $91
New Jersey NJ43$18−70%$17 – $19
Montana MT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI4not 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 $61.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,213$59$25 – $141
Children’s25$65$26 – $91
Critical access335$66$34 – $104
Ownership
For-profit289$87$30 – $430
Government238$49$25 – $102
Non-profit1,046$60$26 – $113
System affiliation
Part of a system1,335$65$27 – $137
Independent243$52$27 – $95

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$112
Median cash price$61
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

1,051 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $60 and the average of the middle 60% is $65; most fall between $29 and $117.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,051 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$34$60$105$168

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.4× what the cheapest tenth charges ($20 vs $168).

Of the 1,151 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,051 gave a usable cash price; 53 carried a plausibility flag, 1 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 46 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,578 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (40%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,708 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,578
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here71
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded2
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded57
Hospitals that filed this code1,708

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 24, 2026; the figures were computed September 25, 2026 from filings loaded through September 24, 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 STREP A AG IA.

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, “Strep A antigen test (CPT 87430) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87430-strep-a-antigen-test