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

Chromosome analysis, 20 to 25 cells examined in detail

CPT 88264the billing code this page is about

Laboratory study in which 20 to 25 cells are analyzed under the microscope to assess chromosome number and structure.

Hospitals typically charge $363 cash for this outpatient procedure — the median across 2,331 hospitals that filed a usable cash price; the average of the middle 60% is $384. Most fall between $163 and $731 (20th–80th percentile).

Hospitals
2,331
States
50
Filings dated
Dec 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 2,331 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
$131$187$363$638$1,124

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.6× what the cheapest tenth charges ($131 vs $1,124).

How the prices are spread

$98 – $128: 104 hospitals$98$128 – $168: 279 hospitals$168 – $220: 235 hospitals$168$220 – $289: 231 hospitals$289 – $379: 247 hospitals$289$379 – $497: 289 hospitals$497 – $651: 277 hospitals$497$651 – $854: 174 hospitals$854 – $1,120: 143 hospitals$854$1,120 – $1,469: 120 hospitals$1,120median $363price bands are equal on a log scale
Hospitals per price band (2,099 of 2,331 — the bands cover the 5th to 95th percentile)
FromToHospitals
$98$128104
$128$168279
$168$220235
$220$289231
$289$379247
$379$497289
$497$651277
$651$854174
$854$1,120143
$1,120$1,469120

By state

The median cash price in each state, against the national median of $363.

Alaska: median $167 across 10 hospitalsAK$167Maine: median $320 across 17 hospitalsME$320Vermont: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureVTNew Hampshire: median $531 across 18 hospitalsNH$531Washington: median $359 across 48 hospitalsWA$359Idaho: median $224 across 15 hospitalsID$224Montana: median $292 across 11 hospitalsMT$292North Dakota: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureNDMinnesota: median $436 across 66 hospitalsMN$436Illinois: median $563 across 106 hospitalsIL$563Wisconsin: median $627 across 90 hospitalsWI$627Michigan: median $200 across 64 hospitalsMI$200New York: median $318 across 76 hospitalsNY$318Massachusetts: median $509 across 38 hospitalsMA$509Oregon: median $194 across 33 hospitalsOR$194Nevada: median $434 across 12 hospitalsNV$434Wyoming: 8 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureWYSouth Dakota: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureSDIowa: median $288 across 41 hospitalsIA$288Indiana: median $246 across 72 hospitalsIN$246Ohio: median $388 across 118 hospitalsOH$388Pennsylvania: median $560 across 104 hospitalsPA$560New Jersey: median $159 across 44 hospitalsNJ$159Connecticut: median $434 across 20 hospitalsCT$434Rhode Island: median $289 across 10 hospitalsRI$289California: median $184 across 95 hospitalsCA$184Utah: median $1,030 across 35 hospitalsUT$1,030Colorado: median $685 across 48 hospitalsCO$685Nebraska: median $389 across 27 hospitalsNE$389Missouri: median $312 across 61 hospitalsMO$312Kentucky: median $434 across 40 hospitalsKY$434West Virginia: median $336 across 32 hospitalsWV$336Virginia: median $687 across 69 hospitalsVA$687Maryland: median $1,000 across 37 hospitalsMD$1,000Delaware: 7 hospitals filed a usable price — fewer than 10, so no figureDEArizona: median $510 across 29 hospitalsAZ$510New Mexico: median $465 across 16 hospitalsNM$465Kansas: median $500 across 44 hospitalsKS$500Arkansas: median $208 across 27 hospitalsAR$208Tennessee: median $231 across 68 hospitalsTN$231North Carolina: median $244 across 67 hospitalsNC$244South Carolina: median $514 across 46 hospitalsSC$514Oklahoma: median $296 across 44 hospitalsOK$296Louisiana: median $242 across 40 hospitalsLA$242Mississippi: median $164 across 41 hospitalsMS$164Alabama: median $320 across 30 hospitalsAL$320Georgia: median $551 across 83 hospitalsGA$551Hawaii: median $301 across 14 hospitalsHI$301Texas: median $280 across 176 hospitalsTX$280Florida: median $152 across 111 hospitalsFL$152
Cash price by state, most expensive first. National median $363. A state needs at least 10 hospitals with a usable price to show a figure.
StateHospitalsMedianvs national20th–80th
Utah UT35$1,030+183%$486 – $1,211
Maryland MD37$1,000+175%$713 – $1,252
Virginia VA69$687+89%$319 – $1,042
Colorado CO48$685+89%$212 – $1,721
Wisconsin WI90$627+73%$428 – $1,267
Illinois IL106$563+55%$228 – $730
Pennsylvania PA104$560+54%$180 – $1,140
Georgia GA83$551+52%$229 – $844
New Hampshire NH18$531+46%$134 – $1,373
South Carolina SC46$514+41%$280 – $538
Arizona AZ29$510+40%$197 – $2,058
Massachusetts MA38$509+40%$321 – $983
Kansas KS44$500+38%$225 – $1,087
New Mexico NM16$465+28%$313 – $650
Minnesota MN66$436+20%$312 – $955
Nevada NV12$434+19%$171 – $840
Connecticut CT20$434+19%$294 – $502
Kentucky KY40$434+19%$158 – $1,388
Nebraska NE27$389+7%$292 – $635
Ohio OH118$388+7%$211 – $530
Washington WA48$359−1%$229 – $652
West Virginia WV32$336−8%$151 – $491
Alabama AL30$320−12%$153 – $536
Maine ME17$320−12%$140 – $486
New York NY76$318−13%$145 – $531
Missouri MO61$312−14%$218 – $489
Hawaii HI14$301−17%$118 – $702
Oklahoma OK44$296−19%$40 – $434
Montana MT11$292−20%$187 – $435
Rhode Island RI10$289−20%$144 – $995
Iowa IA41$288−21%$154 – $494
Texas TX176$280−23%$197 – $653
Indiana IN72$246−32%$173 – $616
North Carolina NC67$244−33%$163 – $558
Louisiana LA40$242−33%$89 – $424
Tennessee TN68$231−36%$151 – $492
Idaho ID15$224−38%$188 – $884
Arkansas AR27$208−43%$141 – $389
Michigan MI64$200−45%$125 – $799
Oregon OR33$194−46%$139 – $323
California CA95$184−49%$108 – $370
Alaska AK10$167−54%$140 – $503
Mississippi MS41$164−55%$88 – $222
New Jersey NJ44$159−56%$145 – $221
Florida FL111$152−58%$120 – $439
North Dakota ND8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Vermont VT8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Wyoming WY8not enough hospitals filed a usable price
Delaware DE7not enough hospitals filed a usable price
South Dakota SD7not 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 $363.

Cash price by hospital segment. A segment needs at least 20 hospitals to show a figure.
SegmentHospitalsMedian20th–80th
Hospital type
Acute care1,870$355$158 – $728
Children’s41$480$284 – $848
Critical access411$373$194 – $737
Ownership
For-profit328$434$196 – $1,022
Government312$328$147 – $566
Non-profit1,682$360$163 – $725
System affiliation
Part of a system1,993$370$162 – $747
Independent338$325$164 – $635

Cash price vs list price

Median list price (chargemaster)$630
Median cash price$363
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

1,666 hospitals filed a usable inpatient cash price for this code. The median is $389 and the average of the middle 60% is $400; most fall between $171 and $730.

Cash price percentiles, inpatient, across 1,666 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
$131$198$389$649$1,097

The most expensive tenth of hospitals charges at least 8.4× what the cheapest tenth charges ($131 vs $1,097).

Of the 1,837 hospitals that filed this code inpatient, 1,666 gave a usable cash price; 96 carried a plausibility flag, 0 filed a number their own filing marks as not a price, 0 gave an estimate, and 75 a list price only.

How complete is this

2,331 of the 3,956 hospitals with a price file in our corpus (59%) filed a usable outpatient cash price for this code, and those are the hospitals every figure on this page is computed from.

What the 2,547 hospitals that filed this code at all gave us
Usable cash price — counted2,331
Cash price carrying a plausibility flag — shown on the compare tool, excluded here132
A number the filing itself marks as not a price (a placeholder, a ratio) — excluded1
An estimate rather than a filed cash price — excluded3
A list price only, no cash figure — excluded80
Hospitals that filed this code2,547

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 Analyze 20-25 Cells.

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, 20 to 25 cells examined in detail (CPT 88264) — cash price report,” computed September 25, 2026. https://hospitalrates.com/procedures/cpt-88264-chromosome-analysis-20-to-25-cells-examined-in-detail