The median cash price for MRI of the Lower Back (lumbar spine, without contrast) is $1,929.84, based on the stated self-pay prices 39 hospitals publish in their federal price-transparency files. Across all 41 hospitals we cover, prices run $237.44–$10,369.
| Hospital | Cash price | Gross charge | File dated |
|---|---|---|---|
| Henry Ford Hospital Detroit, MI |
$44.52 est. | — | 2025-06-28 |
| Temple University Hospital Philadelphia, PA |
$186.13 est. | — | 2026-04-13 |
| MedStar Franklin Square Medical Center Baltimore, MD |
$237.44 cash | $242.29 | 2026-04-01 |
| HMH Hospitals Corporation (Hackensack) Hackensack, NJ |
$267.55 cash | $4,439 | 2025-12-31 |
| Banner University Medical Center Phoenix Phoenix, AZ |
$348.05 cash | $2,417 | 2026-03-02 |
| Cleveland Clinic Main Campus Cleveland, OH |
$384.80 cash | $592 | 2026-06-16 |
| University of Michigan Health Ann Arbor, MI |
$402 cash | $1,005 | 3/31/2026 |
| Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital (Dartmouth) Lebanon, NH |
$432.38 cash | $1,413 | 1/1/2026 |
| Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center Livingston, NJ |
$604.76 cash | $2,854 | 2026-03-04 |
| Scripps Green Hospital San Diego, CA |
$753.25 cash | $3,013 | 2026-03-30 |
| Scripps Memorial Hospital La Jolla San Diego, CA |
$753.25 cash | $3,013 | 2026-03-30 |
| Duke University Hospital Durham, NC |
$876.15 cash | $3,245 | 04/01/2026 |
| WVU Hospitals Morgantown, WV |
$976 cash | $1,952 | 3/30/2026 |
| Houston Methodist Hospital Houston, TX |
$1,056 cash | $2,112 | 2026-04-01 |
| Seattle Children's Hospital Seattle, WA |
$1,125.20 cash | $1,125.20 | 03/31/2026 |
| NYU Langone Tisch Hospital New York, NY |
$1,133.75 cash | $5,967.13 | 2026-01-01 |
| Tampa General Hospital Tampa, FL |
$1,292.90 cash | $3,694 | 2026-04-01 |
| North Carolina Baptist Hospital (Wake Forest) Winston-Salem, NC |
$1,427.50 cash | $2,855 | 2025-10-08 |
| UC Irvine Medical Center Orange, CA |
$1,532 cash | $3,830 | 2026-04-01 |
| Dignity Health St Josephs Hospital and Medical Center Phoenix, AZ |
$1,564.68 cash | $4,096 | 2026-02-28 |
| OHSU Hospital Portland, OR |
$1,714.05 cash | $2,637 | 2026-03-23 |
| Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center Houston, TX |
$1,929.84 cash | $6,030.75 | 2026-04-01 |
| Montefiore Medical Center New York, NY |
$1,965.27 cash | $3,005 | 2026-04-01 |
| Baylor University Medical Center Dallas, TX |
$2,027.80 cash | $3,379.66 | 2026-02-18 |
| University Hospitals Health System Cleveland, OH |
$2,157.75 cash | $2,877 | 2025-05-16 |
| UCSF Medical Center San Francisco, CA |
$2,217.60 cash | $7,392 | 2026-04-01 |
| Froedtert Hospital Milwaukee, WI |
$2,703.25 cash | $4,915 | 2025-12-31 |
| Dana-Farber Cancer Institute Boston, MA |
$2,855.25 cash | $3,807 | 2026-04-01 |
| Sharp Chula Vista Medical Center San Diego, CA |
$3,111.75 cash | $4,149 | 04/01/2026 |
| Brigham and Womens Hospital Boston, MA |
$3,281.25 cash | $4,375 | 2026-03-27 |
| Massachusetts General Hospital Boston, MA |
$3,281.25 cash | $4,375 | 2026-03-27 |
| Kaiser Permanente Oakland Medical Center Oakland, CA |
$3,281.60 cash | $5,860 | 4/1/2026 |
| Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital Chicago, IL |
$3,564.40 cash | $5,092 | 4/1/2026 |
| Texas Children's Hospital Houston, TX |
$3,694.38 cash | $5,514 | 2026-03-05 |
| Providence Alaska Medical Center Anchorage, AK |
$3,846.96 cash | $4,932 | 2026-04-01 |
| Stanford Health Care Palo Alto, CA |
$4,407.60 cash | $11,019 | 2026-04-01 |
| OSF HealthCare Peoria, IL |
$4,771.20 cash | $7,952 | 2026-03-31 |
| Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Los Angeles, CA |
$5,143.15 cash | $7,912.54 | 2025-11-26 |
| University of Chicago Medical Center Chicago, IL |
$5,558 cash | $5,558 | 2026-04-01 |
| Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center New York, NY |
$6,444 cash | $6,444 | 2025-12-01 |
| Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA |
$10,369 cash | $10,369 | 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 Lower Back (lumbar spine, 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.