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

Chromosome analysis, 5 cells counted with one karyotype

CPT 88261the billing code this page is about

Laboratory study of a sample's chromosomes using banding, counting 5 cells and preparing one chromosome map.

Hospitals typically charge $505 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 1,328 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $559. Most fall between $254 and $1,067 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
1,328
States
49
Filings dated
Jan 2024 – 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 1,328 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
$155$267$505$934$1,464

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 9.4× what the cheapest tenth charges ($155 vs $1,464).

How the prices are spread

$112 – $150: 56 hospitals$112$150 – $200: 74 hospitals$200 – $267: 140 hospitals$200$267 – $357: 129 hospitals$357 – $478: 174 hospitals$357$478 – $638: 130 hospitals$638 – $853: 177 hospitals$638$853 – $1,140: 129 hospitals$1,140 – $1,523: 135 hospitals$1,140$1,523 – $2,036: 52 hospitals$1,523median $505price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (1,196 of 1,328 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$112$15056
$150$20074
$200$267140
$267$357129
$357$478174
$478$638130
$638$853177
$853$1,140129
$1,140$1,523135
$1,523$2,03652

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $505.

Alaska: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureAKMaine: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMEVermont: 1 hospital filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNHWashington: median $510 across 42 hospitalsWA$510Idaho: 4 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureIDMontana: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureMTNorth Dakota: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $410 across 33 hospitalsMN$410Illinois: median $494 across 57 hospitalsIL$494Wisconsin: median $1,059 across 44 hospitalsWI$1,059Michigan: median $585 across 38 hospitalsMI$585New York: median $397 across 40 hospitalsNY$397Massachusetts: median $854 across 21 hospitalsMA$854Oregon: median $318 across 11 hospitalsOR$318Nevada: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNVWyoming: 3 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $254 across 24 hospitalsIA$254Indiana: median $541 across 56 hospitalsIN$541Ohio: median $482 across 79 hospitalsOH$482Pennsylvania: median $304 across 55 hospitalsPA$304New Jersey: median $291 across 34 hospitalsNJ$291Connecticut: 9 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureCTRhode Island: 2 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureRICalifornia: median $711 across 62 hospitalsCA$711Utah: median $793 across 12 hospitalsUT$793Colorado: median $644 across 47 hospitalsCO$644Nebraska: median $476 across 28 hospitalsNE$476Missouri: median $525 across 26 hospitalsMO$525Kentucky: median $654 across 18 hospitalsKY$654West Virginia: 5 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWVVirginia: median $942 across 33 hospitalsVA$942Maryland: median $340 across 16 hospitalsMD$340Delaware: no hospital in the corpus filed a usable priceDEArizona: median $1,058 across 23 hospitalsAZ$1,058New Mexico: 6 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNMKansas: median $506 across 24 hospitalsKS$506Arkansas: median $395 across 15 hospitalsAR$395Tennessee: median $153 across 41 hospitalsTN$153North Carolina: median $500 across 49 hospitalsNC$500South Carolina: median $666 across 24 hospitalsSC$666Oklahoma: median $277 across 24 hospitalsOK$277Louisiana: median $528 across 11 hospitalsLA$528Mississippi: median $320 across 14 hospitalsMS$320Alabama: median $325 across 14 hospitalsAL$325Georgia: median $387 across 60 hospitalsGA$387Hawaii: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureHITexas: median $848 across 104 hospitalsTX$848Florida: median $242 across 80 hospitalsFL$242
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $505. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Wisconsin WI44$1,059+110%$455 – $2,177
Arizona AZ23$1,058+110%$325 – $1,866
Virginia VA33$942+87%$254 – $1,067
Massachusetts MA21$854+69%$751 – $1,288
Texas TX104$848+68%$428 – $1,384
Utah UT12$793+57%$397 – $1,412
California CA62$711+41%$247 – $1,245
South Carolina SC24$666+32%$382 – $1,507
Kentucky KY18$654+30%$437 – $2,365
Colorado CO47$644+28%$200 – $1,154
Michigan MI38$585+16%$258 – $1,212
Indiana IN56$541+7%$335 – $911
Louisiana LA11$528+5%$406 – $751
Missouri MO26$525+4%$448 – $746
Washington WA42$510+1%$392 – $971
Kansas KS24$5060%$231 – $866
North Carolina NC49$500−1%$180 – $828
Illinois IL57$494−2%$333 – $1,020
Ohio OH79$482−4%$326 – $1,186
Nebraska NE28$476−6%$209 – $795
Minnesota MN33$410−19%$198 – $645
New York NY40$397−21%$264 – $753
Arkansas AR15$395−22%$126 – $545
Georgia GA60$387−23%$39 – $867
Maryland MD16$340−33%$268 – $406
Alabama AL14$325−36%$251 – $727
Mississippi MS14$320−37%$184 – $943
Oregon OR11$318−37%$318 – $634
Pennsylvania PA55$304−40%$183 – $925
New Jersey NJ34$291−42%$264 – $304
Oklahoma OK24$277−45%$251 – $616
Iowa IA24$254−50%$254 – $645
Florida FL80$242−52%$146 – $1,021
Tennessee TN41$153−70%$140 – $629
Connecticut CT9not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Nevada NV8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Hawaii HI7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Alaska AK6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Mexico NM6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD6not enough hospitals filed a usable price
North Dakota ND5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
West Virginia WV5not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Idaho ID4not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Maine ME3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY3not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Montana MT2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
New Hampshire NH2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Rhode Island RI2not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT1not 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 $505.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,116$476$246 – $1,066
Children’s28$442$278 – $925
Critical access177$645$340 – $1,212
Ownership
For-profit205$759$254 – $1,464
Government190$515$231 – $866
Non-profit926$482$254 – $1,057
System affiliation
Part of a system1,155$506$254 – $1,110
Independent173$472$262 – $911

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$970
Median cash price$505
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

942 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $544 and the average of the middle 60% is $597; most fall between $252 and $1,067.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 942 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
$154$300$544$942$1,246

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.1× what the cheapest tenth charges ($154 vs $1,246).

Of the 1,067 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 942 gave a usable cash price; 78 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 47 a list price only.

How complete is this

1,328 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (34%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 1,470 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted1,328
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here90
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 — excluded51
Hospitals that filed this code1,470

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 Count 5-14 Karyo 1.

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, “Chromosome analysis, 5 cells counted with one karyotype (CPT 88261) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-88261-chromosome-analysis-5-cells-counted-with-one-karyotype