The median cash price for MRI of the Brain (with & without contrast) is $2,915.84, based on the stated self-pay prices 39 hospitals publish in their federal price-transparency files. Across all 41 hospitals we cover, prices run $395.29–$19,502.
| Hospital | Cash price | Gross charge | File dated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Henry Ford Hospital Detroit, MI |
$69.01 est. | — | 2025-06-28 |
| Temple University Hospital Philadelphia, PA |
$293.72 est. | — | 2026-04-13 |
| HMH Hospitals Corporation (Hackensack) Hackensack, NJ |
$395.29 cash | $5,631 | 2025-12-31 |
| University of Michigan Health Ann Arbor, MI |
$457.20 cash | $1,143 | 3/31/2026 |
| Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital (Dartmouth) Lebanon, NH |
$544.68 cash | $1,780 | 1/1/2026 |
| Banner University Medical Center Phoenix Phoenix, AZ |
$578.12 cash | $3,636 | 2026-03-02 |
| Cleveland Clinic Main Campus Cleveland, OH |
$655.20 cash | $1,008 | 2026-06-16 |
| MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center Baltimore, MD |
$702.85 cash | $717.19 | 2026-04-01 |
| Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center Livingston, NJ |
$1,067.55 cash | $5,038 | 2026-03-04 |
| Duke University Hospital Durham, NC |
$1,401.84 cash | $5,192 | 04/01/2026 |
| Scripps Green Hospital San Diego, CA |
$1,475.74 cash | $5,902.98 | 2026-03-30 |
| Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla San Diego, CA |
$1,475.74 cash | $5,902.98 | 2026-03-30 |
| Houston Methodist Hospital Houston, TX |
$1,615.50 cash | $3,231 | 2026-04-01 |
| NYU Langone Tisch Hospital New York, NY |
$1,767.26 cash | $9,301.39 | 2026-01-01 |
| WVU Hospitals Morgantown, WV |
$1,893 cash | $3,786 | 3/30/2026 |
| UC Irvine Medical Center Orange, CA |
$1,920 cash | $4,800 | 2026-04-01 |
| Tampa General Hospital Tampa, FL |
$2,040.50 cash | $5,830 | 2026-04-01 |
| Dignity Health St Josephs Hospital and Medical Center Phoenix, AZ |
$2,256.48 cash | $5,907 | 2026-02-28 |
| North Carolina Baptist Hospital (Wake Forest) Winston-Salem, NC |
$2,398.50 cash | $4,797 | 2025-10-08 |
| Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center Houston, TX |
$2,417.20 cash | $7,553.75 | 2026-04-01 |
| University Hospitals Health System Cleveland, OH |
$2,514 cash | $3,352 | 2025-05-16 |
| Baylor University Medical Center Dallas, TX |
$2,915.84 cash | $4,859.74 | 2026-02-18 |
| OHSU Hospital Portland, OR |
$3,123.90 cash | $4,806 | 2026-03-23 |
| UCSF Medical Center San Francisco, CA |
$3,185.70 cash | $10,619 | 2026-04-01 |
| Froedtert Hospital Milwaukee, WI |
$3,927 cash | $7,140 | 2025-12-31 |
| Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Boston, MA |
$4,223.25 cash | $5,631 | 2026-04-01 |
| Texas Children's Hospital Houston, TX |
$4,438.08 cash | $6,624 | 2026-03-05 |
| OSF HealthCare Peoria, IL |
$4,532.40 cash | $7,554 | 2026-03-31 |
| Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center San Diego, CA |
$4,562.25 cash | $6,083 | 04/01/2026 |
| Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital Chicago, IL |
$4,570.30 cash | $6,529 | 4/1/2026 |
| Brigham and Womens Hospital Boston, MA |
$4,860.75 cash | $6,481 | 2026-03-27 |
| Massachusetts General Hospital Boston, MA |
$4,860.75 cash | $6,481 | 2026-03-27 |
| Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center Oakland, CA |
$5,499.20 cash | $9,820 | 4/1/2026 |
| Providence Alaska Medical Center Anchorage, AK |
$5,549.70 cash | $7,115 | 2026-04-01 |
| Montefiore Medical Center New York, NY |
$5,594.97 cash | $8,555 | 2026-04-01 |
| Stanford Health Care Palo Alto, CA |
$6,788 cash | $16,970 | 2026-04-01 |
| Seattle Children's Hospital Seattle, WA |
$6,820.40 cash | $6,820.40 | 03/31/2026 |
| University of Chicago Medical Center Chicago, IL |
$7,132 cash | $7,132 | 2026-04-01 |
| Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center New York, NY |
$7,589 cash | $7,589 | 2025-12-01 |
| Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Los Angeles, CA |
$10,021.11 cash | $15,417.10 | 2025-11-26 |
| Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA |
$19,502 cash | $19,502 | 2026-02-10 |
"Cash price" = the hospital's published discounted_cash self-pay rate. "Gross charge" = the sticker price before any discount — what cash-pay patients are first billed and can negotiate down toward the cash rate.
If you're paying cash for MRI of the Brain (with & without contrast), the hospital's published self-pay price is a ceiling you can negotiate from, not a fixed quote. Bring the figure above (and the source file) to billing and ask for the cash / prompt-pay rate. Free-standing imaging centers and ASCs are often well below hospital outpatient rates.