How Much Does a CT Scan Cost? US Prices by Scan Type

A CT scan in the United States costs $250 to $3,000 without insurance, with a national average near $1,200. With insurance, most people pay $50 to $500 out of pocket after copay and coinsurance. The gap between the low end and the high end comes down to where you get it, which body part is scanned, and whether contrast dye is used.

This post is a cost guide only. It is not medical advice. If a doctor orders a CT scan, the medical decision is theirs. The money decision is yours, and this post gives you the price ranges, the worked example, and the questions to ask before you book.

Figure 1: One CT scan can cost up to $3,000. Hospital outpatient prices run well above imaging-center prices for the same scan.

CT scan cost by scan type

Prices below come from CareRoute's 2026 cost guide, built from the 2026 Medicare fee schedule, CMS hospital price data, and FAIR Health consumer cost estimates. Each price covers the scan and the radiologist's reading of it. Your own quote can sit outside these ranges, because prices change by city and by facility.

Two patterns show in every row. A head scan is the cheapest scan, and an abdomen and pelvis scan is the most expensive, because it covers more of the body. Contrast dye adds roughly $100 to $300 to the bill, for the dye and the extra scan runs. FAIR Health's 2024 consumer estimates tell the same story in wider bands: $300 to $1,500 at a freestanding center, against $1,500 to $5,000 at a hospital outpatient department.

Worked example: one scan, two bills

Take a CT of the abdomen and pelvis with contrast, the scan a doctor orders most often for stomach pain. The price depends on where you have it done. The scan, the dye, and the reading are the same in both places. Only the building changes.

Figure 2: The same abdomen and pelvis CT with contrast, priced at an imaging center and at a hospital. The gap is about $1,425 at the middle of each range.

At a freestanding imaging center, the scan runs $450 to $900, with about $675 at the middle of the range. At a hospital outpatient department, the same scan runs $1,200 to $3,000, with about $2,100 at the middle. The gap between the two middles is about $1,425, for the same pictures. That is why the place matters more than the price when you start asking.

Figure 3: Five things that change the price. The place you go matters more than all the rest put together.

What changes the price

Five things move the bill. The first one matters more than the other four put together.

• Where you go. Hospital outpatient departments charge 2 to 4 times what freestanding imaging centers charge for the same scan. A 2024 Health Affairs study put the gap at 2.4 times on average for identical CT procedures.
• Which body part. A head CT is the cheapest scan. Abdomen and pelvis scans cost the most, because they cover more area and take more images.
• Contrast dye. Contrast adds roughly $100 to $300, for the dye and the extra scan runs it needs.
• Insurance. With insurance, out-of-pocket runs about $50 to $500 after copay and coinsurance. Without it, the full $250 to $3,000 range applies. Medicare pays about $96 to $311 for a CT scan under its fee schedule.
• Emergency or not. A scan in the emergency room costs the most. The same scan booked ahead at an imaging center costs far less, because no emergency fee is added.

With insurance vs without insurance

With insurance, the price you pay is not the price on the bill. Your insurer has a negotiated rate with the facility, and you pay a copay, coinsurance, or part of your deductible. CareRoute puts the usual out-of-pocket range at $50 to $500. If you have not met a high deductible yet, you can pay the full negotiated rate, which runs $110 to $468 across hospitals for a typical scan, according to CMS-based data compiled by CostKits.

Without insurance, you face the facility's list price, called the chargemaster rate. Hospital cash prices run $92 to $405 at the low end of the published data, but list prices for a full scan can reach $3,000. Most facilities cut the price for cash payment. Ask for the self-pay discount before you book, and ask whether the hospital has a financial help program. Discounts of 20 to 40 percent for cash payment are common, and some hospitals cut far more.

How to pay less for a CT scan

You can shop for a CT scan the way you shop for anything else, as long as it is not an emergency. The scan itself does not change when the building changes.

• Get the CPT code. Ask your doctor's office for the 5-digit CPT code for your scan, for example 70450 for a head CT without contrast, or 74177 for an abdomen and pelvis CT with contrast. Prices are quoted by code, so the code makes quotes comparable.
• Call three places. Call one hospital outpatient department and two freestanding imaging centers. Give each one the same CPT code and ask for the total cash price, including the radiologist's reading.
• Ask for the cash price. Say you will pay on the day. Ask for the self-pay or prompt-pay discount, and ask about financial help if the price is still out of reach.
• Check the hospital price file. Since April 2026, tightened CMS rules require every hospital to publish a machine-readable price file with gross charges, cash prices, and negotiated rates. Search the hospital's site for its price file before you call.
• Check your insurance first. Call your insurer and ask whether the scan is covered, whether the site is in network, and how much of your deductible is left. An out-of-network scan can cost far more than the same scan in network.

Sources: CareRoute CT scan cost guide, updated May 2026, built from the 2026 Medicare fee schedule, CMS hospital price data, and FAIR Health consumer cost estimates; HealthCostTools 2026 price-shopping guide, including the April 2026 CMS price file rule and the 2.4 times hospital gap from the 2024 Health Affairs study; FAIR Health consumer cost estimates, 2024; CostKits 2026 CT scan pricing data from CMS Medicare fee schedules.

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