HRHospitalRates.comCompare prices

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

HIV-1 viral load (amount of virus in blood)

CPT 87536the billing code this page is about

A laboratory test that measures how much HIV-1 genetic material is present in the sample, giving a numeric result rather than a simple positive or negative.

Hospitals typically charge $274 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 3,143 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $286. Most fall between $110 and $512 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
3,143
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 3,143 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
$75$130$274$464$719

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.6× what the cheapest tenth charges ($75 vs $719).

How the prices are spread

$55 – $73: 131 hospitals$55$73 – $98: 227 hospitals$98 – $130: 278 hospitals$98$130 – $174: 275 hospitals$174 – $233: 290 hospitals$174$233 – $311: 374 hospitals$311 – $415: 444 hospitals$311$415 – $554: 429 hospitals$554 – $739: 244 hospitals$554$739 – $987: 137 hospitals$739median $274price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,829 of 3,143 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$55$73131
$73$98227
$98$130278
$130$174275
$174$233290
$233$311374
$311$415444
$415$554429
$554$739244
$739$987137

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $274.

Alaska: median $341 across 17 hospitalsAK$341Maine: median $222 across 26 hospitalsME$222Vermont: median $370 across 14 hospitalsVT$370New Hampshire: median $360 across 24 hospitalsNH$360Washington: median $382 across 69 hospitalsWA$382Idaho: median $275 across 22 hospitalsID$275Montana: median $363 across 23 hospitalsMT$363North Dakota: median $397 across 26 hospitalsND$397Minnesota: median $163 across 100 hospitalsMN$163Illinois: median $340 across 136 hospitalsIL$340Wisconsin: median $375 across 101 hospitalsWI$375Michigan: median $122 across 95 hospitalsMI$122New York: median $209 across 119 hospitalsNY$209Massachusetts: median $366 across 52 hospitalsMA$366Oregon: median $282 across 47 hospitalsOR$282Nevada: median $308 across 20 hospitalsNV$308Wyoming: median $249 across 16 hospitalsWY$249South Dakota: median $430 across 30 hospitalsSD$430Iowa: median $219 across 76 hospitalsIA$219Indiana: median $326 across 96 hospitalsIN$326Ohio: median $325 across 137 hospitalsOH$325Pennsylvania: median $354 across 119 hospitalsPA$354New Jersey: median $98 across 57 hospitalsNJ$98Connecticut: median $348 across 22 hospitalsCT$348Rhode Island: median $197 across 10 hospitalsRI$197California: median $102 across 138 hospitalsCA$102Utah: median $482 across 40 hospitalsUT$482Colorado: median $262 across 61 hospitalsCO$262Nebraska: median $458 across 61 hospitalsNE$458Missouri: median $276 across 73 hospitalsMO$276Kentucky: median $197 across 66 hospitalsKY$197West Virginia: median $275 across 38 hospitalsWV$275Virginia: median $309 across 71 hospitalsVA$309Maryland: median $423 across 40 hospitalsMD$423Delaware: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $358 across 42 hospitalsAZ$358New Mexico: median $367 across 25 hospitalsNM$367Kansas: median $266 across 59 hospitalsKS$266Arkansas: median $121 across 36 hospitalsAR$121Tennessee: median $170 across 81 hospitalsTN$170North Carolina: median $262 across 84 hospitalsNC$262South Carolina: median $453 across 49 hospitalsSC$453Oklahoma: median $191 across 67 hospitalsOK$191Louisiana: median $156 across 49 hospitalsLA$156Mississippi: median $153 across 56 hospitalsMS$153Alabama: median $223 across 43 hospitalsAL$223Georgia: median $260 across 106 hospitalsGA$260Hawaii: median $428 across 16 hospitalsHI$428Texas: median $303 across 227 hospitalsTX$303Florida: median $113 across 154 hospitalsFL$113
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $274. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Utah UT40$482+76%$325 – $567
Nebraska NE61$458+67%$176 – $678
South Carolina SC49$453+66%$240 – $484
South Dakota SD30$430+57%$146 – $603
Hawaii HI16$428+57%$232 – $1,124
Maryland MD40$423+55%$320 – $520
North Dakota ND26$397+45%$148 – $539
Washington WA69$382+39%$237 – $537
Wisconsin WI101$375+37%$274 – $526
Vermont VT14$370+35%$184 – $585
New Mexico NM25$367+34%$232 – $540
Massachusetts MA52$366+34%$194 – $595
Montana MT23$363+33%$150 – $520
New Hampshire NH24$360+32%$173 – $686
Arizona AZ42$358+31%$120 – $833
Pennsylvania PA119$354+30%$132 – $865
Connecticut CT22$348+27%$188 – $372
Alaska AK17$341+25%$109 – $579
Illinois IL136$340+24%$189 – $586
Indiana IN96$326+19%$137 – $521
Ohio OH137$325+19%$164 – $474
Virginia VA71$309+13%$149 – $553
Nevada NV20$308+13%$95 – $602
Texas TX227$303+11%$141 – $758
Oregon OR47$282+3%$219 – $419
Missouri MO73$276+1%$159 – $429
Idaho ID22$275+1%$167 – $625
West Virginia WV38$275+1%$179 – $464
Kansas KS59$266−3%$167 – $616
Colorado CO61$262−4%$131 – $497
North Carolina NC84$262−4%$142 – $504
Georgia GA106$260−5%$122 – $467
Wyoming WY16$249−9%$180 – $412
Alabama AL43$223−19%$114 – $675
Maine ME26$222−19%$151 – $530
Iowa IA76$219−20%$88 – $464
New York NY119$209−24%$85 – $426
Rhode Island RI10$197−28%$124 – $375
Kentucky KY66$197−28%$128 – $401
Oklahoma OK67$191−30%$97 – $314
Tennessee TN81$170−38%$101 – $359
Minnesota MN100$163−40%$75 – $429
Louisiana LA49$156−43%$85 – $352
Mississippi MS56$153−44%$77 – $270
Michigan MI95$122−55%$42 – $446
Arkansas AR36$121−56%$114 – $258
Florida FL154$113−59%$70 – $410
California CA138$102−63%$50 – $379
New Jersey NJ57$98−64%$94 – $240
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 $274.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care2,257$269$98 – $512
Children’s50$236$121 – $456
Critical access826$314$146 – $521
Ownership
For-profit446$321$113 – $833
Government549$255$109 – $464
Non-profit2,138$273$111 – $497
System affiliation
Part of a system2,580$276$108 – $526
Independent563$258$120 – $460

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$463
Median cash price$274
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

2,153 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $291 and the average of the middle 60% is $299; most fall between $115 and $521.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 2,153 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
$74$144$291$475$675

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($74 vs $675).

Of the 2,371 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 2,153 gave a usable cash price; 112 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 106 a list price only.

How complete is this

3,143 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (79%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 3,424 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted3,143
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here156
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 — excluded123
Hospitals that filed this code3,424

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 Microscopic examination (bacterial smear, culture, toxicology) family.

Hospitals file this code under descriptions such as HC Hiv Ultrasensitive.

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, “HIV-1 viral load (amount of virus in blood) (CPT 87536) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87536-hiv-1-viral-load-amount-of-virus-in-blood