How Much Does an MRI Cost?
The same MRI ranges from $21 to $84,217 across US hospitals. We analyzed negotiated hospital prices for an MRI of the brain (CPT 70551) in 1,337 hospitals across 47 states. The median negotiated rate is $405, yet the most expensive hospital charges roughly 208× that. Below: the widest price gaps, the most and least expensive hospitals, and how the typical price varies by state. Drawn from the latest machine-readable price files; updated annually.
There is no single price for an MRI. Across 1,337 US hospitals publishing federally-mandated machine-readable files, the negotiated rate for an MRI of the brain (CPT 70551) ranges from $21 to $84,217, a median of $405. Most rates (the 10th to 90th percentile) fall between $100 and $2,851. Cash-pay patients pay a median of $1,436, while hospital list (gross) charges median $2,832. See the full national breakdown by payer and state on the MRI brain procedure page.
Median negotiated MRI price — top 12 states
MRI cost by state, most expensive first
Median negotiated MRI rate per state, among states with at least three reporting hospitals. Click a state to compare every hospital in it.
| # | State | Hospitals | Lowest | Median | Highest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Dakota | 5 | $196 | $3,516 | $5,915 |
| 2 | Louisiana | 5 | $219 | $2,332 | $7,723 |
| 3 | New Mexico | 6 | $656 | $1,655 | $3,980 |
| 4 | Virginia | 9 | $163 | $1,623 | $5,409 |
| 5 | Missouri | 10 | $223 | $1,537 | $4,833 |
| 6 | North Dakota | 10 | $130 | $1,522 | $6,352 |
| 7 | Ohio | 20 | $40 | $1,462 | $3,407 |
| 8 | Wisconsin | 33 | $65 | $1,352 | $40,765 |
| 9 | Nevada | 6 | $30 | $1,269 | $5,409 |
| 10 | Pennsylvania | 28 | $56 | $1,147 | $8,803 |
| 11 | Arizona | 9 | $133 | $1,055 | $43,770 |
| 12 | West Virginia | 3 | $52 | $1,013 | $4,757 |
| 13 | Oklahoma | 13 | $25 | $996 | $14,802 |
| 14 | Kentucky | 14 | $65 | $908 | $6,205 |
| 15 | North Carolina | 26 | $24 | $829 | $4,563 |
| 16 | Washington | 3 | $52 | $677 | $4,757 |
| 17 | Massachusetts | 7 | $57 | $677 | $10,235 |
| 18 | Puerto Rico | 5 | $227 | $625 | $715 |
| 19 | Texas | 49 | $53 | $584 | $31,794 |
| 20 | Illinois | 38 | $65 | $548 | $6,652 |
| 21 | California | 39 | $30 | $518 | $13,139 |
| 22 | Maryland | 3 | $432 | $467 | $699 |
| 23 | Florida | 4 | $41 | $422 | $2,970 |
| 24 | New Jersey | 13 | $57 | $414 | $3,615 |
| 25 | Alabama | 13 | $21 | $372 | $48,184 |
| 26 | Arkansas | 7 | $58 | $353 | $7,146 |
| 27 | Nebraska | 4 | $65 | $352 | $4,790 |
| 28 | Hawaii | 3 | $80 | $337 | $1,093 |
| 29 | Mississippi | 4 | $35 | $319 | $3,576 |
| 30 | Kansas | 15 | $40 | $313 | $5,453 |
| 31 | New York | 10 | $33 | $298 | $6,836 |
| 32 | Vermont | 5 | $33 | $296 | $6,774 |
| 33 | Iowa | 19 | $65 | $272 | $5,611 |
| 34 | Georgia | 8 | $30 | $264 | $3,656 |
| 35 | Michigan | 22 | $30 | $250 | $2,965 |
| 36 | Minnesota | 21 | $29 | $249 | $3,939 |
| 37 | Tennessee | 13 | $36 | $238 | $1,988 |
| 38 | Maine | 4 | $29 | $235 | $3,237 |
| 39 | Colorado | 6 | $166 | $211 | $5,902 |
| 40 | Indiana | 8 | $36 | $168 | $3,275 |
| 41 | South Carolina | 5 | $25 | $157 | $2,163 |
The 25 most expensive hospitals for an MRI
Ranked by each hospital's median negotiated rate for MRI brain (CPT 70551), highest first.
The 25 least expensive hospitals for an MRI
Lowest median negotiated rate for MRI brain (CPT 70551), cheapest first. Rates under $20 are excluded as data-entry placeholders.
| # | Hospital | City | ST | Negotiated median |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alice Hyde Medical Center | — | — | $107 |
| 2 | Alice Hyde Medical Center | Malone | NY | $107 |
| 3 | Linton Hospital | Linton | ND | $1,001 |
| 4 | Novant Health Pender Medical Center | — | — | $1,002 |
| 5 | Harlan Arh | Harlan | KY | $1,004 |
| 6 | Harlan ARH Hospital | — | — | $1,004 |
| 7 | WellSpan Gettysburg Hospital | — | — | $1,008 |
| 8 | WellSpan York Hospital | — | — | $1,012 |
| 9 | Limestone Medical Center | Groesbeck | TX | $1,035 |
| 10 | CHI Health Richard Young Behavioral Health | — | — | $1,042 |
| 11 | Summers County ARH Hospital | — | — | $1,059 |
| 12 | Summers County Arh | Hinton | WV | $1,059 |
| 13 | Lexington Memorial Hospital Inc. | Lexington | NC | $1,068 |
| 14 | Baptist Health Lexington | Lexington | KY | $1,068 |
| 15 | Our Lady Of The Way | Martin | KY | $1,068 |
| 16 | Atrium Health Stanly | — | — | $1,070 |
| 17 | Atrium Health Stanly | Albemarle | NC | $1,070 |
| 18 | Dodge County Hospital | Eastman | GA | $1,072 |
| 19 | CHI Health St. Francis | — | — | $1,087 |
| 20 | Union County Hospital District | Anna | IL | $1,093 |
| 21 | Medstar Georgetown University Hospital | — | — | $1,093 |
| 22 | Twin City Hospital | Dennison | OH | $1,094 |
| 23 | Atrium Health Anson | — | — | $1,104 |
| 24 | Atrium Health Anson | Wadesboro | NC | $1,104 |
| 25 | Sierra Nevada Memorial Hospital | Grass Valley | CA | $1,116 |
Methodology
This study uses negotiated rates for MRI brain without contrast (CPT 70551), a CMS-designated shoppable service and the most commonly searched MRI procedure. Rates come from each hospital's federally-mandated machine-readable price transparency file, the same source used throughout PriceTransparency.io.
National figures aggregate every negotiated rate published for the code. Per-hospital and per-state figures use the median negotiated rate to limit the influence of individual payer outliers. State rankings include only states with at least three reporting hospitals. We exclude rates below $20, which are sentinel/placeholder values some hospitals publish rather than real prices. Because each insurer negotiates its own rate, a single hospital can show a wide internal range; we report the median to represent its typical price.
Want the underlying numbers? Every hospital links to its full price profile, and you can pull the complete rate table for this code as CSV. Browse all procedures or look up MRI brain (CPT 70551) in full.
Cite or embed this study
This research is free to reference. Journalists and researchers are welcome to cite the figures with a link back to PriceTransparency.
PriceTransparency. (2025). How Much Does an MRI Cost? Hospital Price Variation by State. Retrieved from https://pricetransparency.io/mri-cost-by-state
<a href="https://pricetransparency.io/mri-cost-by-state" style="display:inline-block;border-left:4px solid #84cc16;padding:10px 14px;font:14px/1.4 system-ui,sans-serif;color:#0f172a;text-decoration:none;background:#f8fafc;border-radius:4px;max-width:520px"><strong>The same MRI ranges from $21 to $84,217 across US hospitals</strong><br>Source: PriceTransparency — How Much Does an MRI Cost? Hospital Price Variation by State (2025)</a>
Source: PriceTransparency — How Much Does an MRI Cost? Hospital Price Variation by State (2025)