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

Staph aureus test by DNA amplification

CPT 87640the billing code this page is about

A laboratory test that looks for the genetic material of Staphylococcus aureus bacteria in a specimen such as a nasal or wound swab. Covers one test on one specimen.

Hospitals typically charge $105 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,449 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $109. Most fall between $48 and $186 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,449
States
50
Filings dated
Dec 2023 – 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 1,449 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
$36$57$105$167$267

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.3× what the cheapest tenth charges ($36 vs $267).

How the prices are spread

$28 – $36: 71 hospitals$28$36 – $47: 133 hospitals$47 – $61: 111 hospitals$47$61 – $79: 148 hospitals$79 – $102: 168 hospitals$79$102 – $132: 199 hospitals$132 – $171: 203 hospitals$132$171 – $222: 155 hospitals$222 – $288: 55 hospitals$222$288 – $372: 62 hospitals$288median $105price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,305 of 1,449 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$28$3671
$36$47133
$47$61111
$61$79148
$79$102168
$102$132199
$132$171203
$171$222155
$222$28855
$288$37262

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $105.

Alaska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: median $49 across 13 hospitalsME$49Vermont: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $127 across 14 hospitalsNH$127Washington: median $152 across 29 hospitalsWA$152Idaho: median $129 across 14 hospitalsID$129Montana: median $106 across 26 hospitalsMT$106North Dakota: median $139 across 11 hospitalsND$139Minnesota: median $94 across 33 hospitalsMN$94Illinois: median $158 across 76 hospitalsIL$158Wisconsin: median $167 across 66 hospitalsWI$167Michigan: median $74 across 55 hospitalsMI$74New York: median $78 across 65 hospitalsNY$78Massachusetts: median $159 across 30 hospitalsMA$159Oregon: median $112 across 36 hospitalsOR$112Nevada: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 3 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 $67 across 23 hospitalsIA$67Indiana: median $89 across 62 hospitalsIN$89Ohio: median $134 across 95 hospitalsOH$134Pennsylvania: median $53 across 46 hospitalsPA$53New Jersey: median $39 across 38 hospitalsNJ$39Connecticut: median $188 across 16 hospitalsCT$188Rhode Island: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $167 across 54 hospitalsCA$167Utah: median $289 across 32 hospitalsUT$289Colorado: median $197 across 25 hospitalsCO$197Nebraska: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNEMissouri: median $103 across 24 hospitalsMO$103Kentucky: median $96 across 32 hospitalsKY$96West Virginia: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $70 across 14 hospitalsVA$70Maryland: median $326 across 12 hospitalsMD$326Delaware: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $520 across 20 hospitalsAZ$520New Mexico: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $65 across 13 hospitalsKS$65Arkansas: median $41 across 24 hospitalsAR$41Tennessee: median $62 across 39 hospitalsTN$62North Carolina: median $50 across 15 hospitalsNC$50South Carolina: median $68 across 34 hospitalsSC$68Oklahoma: median $75 across 35 hospitalsOK$75Louisiana: median $64 across 18 hospitalsLA$64Mississippi: median $38 across 26 hospitalsMS$38Alabama: median $53 across 16 hospitalsAL$53Georgia: median $70 across 42 hospitalsGA$70Hawaii: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $116 across 110 hospitalsTX$116Florida: median $140 across 63 hospitalsFL$140
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $105. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Arizona AZ20$520+395%$94 – $520
Maryland MD12$326+211%$194 – $374
Utah UT32$289+175%$187 – $340
Colorado CO25$197+87%$145 – $202
Connecticut CT16$188+79%$122 – $292
California CA54$167+59%$127 – $175
Wisconsin WI66$167+59%$125 – $238
Massachusetts MA30$159+52%$82 – $239
Illinois IL76$158+50%$62 – $178
Washington WA29$152+45%$70 – $236
Florida FL63$140+34%$41 – $327
North Dakota ND11$139+32%$104 – $230
Ohio OH95$134+28%$90 – $174
Idaho ID14$129+23%$77 – $156
New Hampshire NH14$127+21%$38 – $181
Texas TX110$116+11%$58 – $155
Oregon OR36$112+7%$66 – $148
Montana MT26$106+1%$82 – $168
Missouri MO24$103−2%$75 – $133
Kentucky KY32$96−9%$51 – $438
Minnesota MN33$94−10%$87 – $145
Indiana IN62$89−15%$49 – $108
New York NY65$78−26%$35 – $131
Oklahoma OK35$75−28%$46 – $140
Michigan MI55$74−30%$46 – $152
Virginia VA14$70−33%$62 – $320
Georgia GA42$70−34%$41 – $70
South Carolina SC34$68−35%$67 – $120
Iowa IA23$67−36%$67 – $100
Kansas KS13$65−38%$47 – $84
Louisiana LA18$64−39%$34 – $93
Tennessee TN39$62−41%$45 – $95
Alabama AL16$53−49%$26 – $67
Pennsylvania PA46$53−50%$35 – $147
North Carolina NC15$50−52%$49 – $148
Maine ME13$49−54%$28 – $109
Arkansas AR24$41−61%$38 – $96
New Jersey NJ38$39−63%$35 – $40
Mississippi MS26$38−64%$29 – $63
Nevada NV9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nebraska NE5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD2not 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 $105.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,146$99$46 – $176
Children’s19fewer than 20 hospitals
Critical access276$112$66 – $214
Ownership
For-profit162$103$47 – $217
Government176$79$40 – $159
Non-profit1,103$111$50 – $188
System affiliation
Part of a system1,261$105$47 – $189
Independent188$103$55 – $173

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$194
Median cash price$105
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

1,044 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $118 and the average of the middle 60% is $120; most fall between $59 and $206.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,044 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
$41$67$118$175$285

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 7.0× what the cheapest tenth charges ($41 vs $285).

Of the 1,136 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,044 gave a usable cash price; 35 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 57 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,449 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (37%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,559 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,449
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here46
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded0
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded63
Hospitals that filed this code1,559

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 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 STAPH AUREUS NAD, SKIN & SOFT TISSUE 87640.

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, “Staph aureus test by DNA amplification (CPT 87640) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-87640-staph-aureus-test-by-dna-amplification