Cesarean Section (C-Section) Delivery: what it covers and what it costs
What does a Cesarean Section (C-Section) Delivery cost? Across 39 major U.S. metros, the typical insurer-negotiated price for a C-Section (MS-DRG 786 / 787 / 788) runs from about $686 in St. Louis, MO to $41,922 in San Antonio, TX, read from hospitals' own price-transparency files. 6 of those metros have at least one hospital publishing a self-pay cash price. This page explains what the billing code covers, what the quoted price does and does not include, and what actually drives the spread between hospitals. These are price references from public data — not a quote, a bill, or medical or financial advice.
These figures are aggregated from hospitals' public price-transparency files — not a quote, a bill, an insurance benefit determination, or medical advice. Your actual out-of-pocket cost depends on your insurance plan (deductible, copay, coinsurance, network), the exact service and any complications, and which hospital you use. Always confirm price and coverage with the hospital and your insurer before care.
What a C-Section price actually covers
A caesarean delivery is the surgical delivery of a baby through incisions in the abdomen and uterus. It is billed as an inpatient stay and typically involves a longer admission than a vaginal delivery.
Code scope. Cesarean WITHOUT sterilization: MS-DRG 786 (with MCC) / 787 (with CC) / 788 (without CC/MCC). If a tubal sterilization is done at the same time it groups to 783-785 instead.
What is — and isn't — in the price
The hospital amount generally covers the operating room, the mother's room and board and routine care. It does not usually include the obstetrician's delivery fee, anaesthesia — most often an epidural or spinal — or the newborn's own charges, which are billed under the baby as a separate patient.
Why C-Section prices differ so much between hospitals
The largest single omission from any published delivery price is the newborn's account, particularly if the baby needs special or intensive care. Beyond that, whether the stay is classified with or without complications shifts the hospital grouping, and length of stay varies.
What else usually lands on the bill
The newborn is billed as a separate patient with its own room and nursery charges. Anaesthesia, any prenatal care billed globally by the obstetrician, and a circumcision if elected are all separate lines.
What to ask before you book
Ask explicitly whether the quoted figure covers only the mother, and request a separate estimate for the newborn's routine nursery charges and for anaesthesia. A delivery price that seems complete rarely is.
Where the money actually moves
Ask the hospital for its bundled maternity rate and confirm in writing what the newborn's separate account covers. Verifying that the anaesthesia group participates with your plan before the date avoids the most common surprise bill in maternity care.
What the C-Section numbers show nationally
A C-Section costs 61.1× as much in San Antonio as in St. Louis
Across the 39 metros priced here, the typical negotiated rate runs from $686 in St. Louis, MO to $41,922 in San Antonio, TX — the same billing codes, the same procedure, 6014% apart.
The individual hospitals reporting the lowest and highest C-Section prices
Lowest: MERCY HOSPITAL SOUTH (St. Louis, MO) at $686; MERCY HOSPITAL JEFFERSON (St. Louis, MO) at $686; MERCY HOSPITAL WASHINGTON (St. Louis, MO) at $686. Highest: PARKLAND HEALTH AND HOSPITAL SYSTEM (Dallas, TX) at $84,767; SHARP CORONADO HOSPITAL AND HLTHCR CTR (San Diego, CA) at $59,976; SHARP MEMORIAL HOSPITAL (San Diego, CA) at $59,671. These are the figures each hospital published in its own file, not an assessment of the care.
6 of 39 metros have a hospital publishing a self-pay C-Section price
Cheapest published cash price: $11,627 (St. Louis). A cash price is what the hospital will accept from someone paying directly; it is not required and many never publish one.
Insurers pay about 72% below the list price for a C-Section
Across the 3 metros publishing both, the chargemaster list price is typically 72% above what insurers negotiate. The widest gap is in St. Louis: $17,887 list against $686 negotiated.
How many hospitals actually publish a C-Section price
231 hospital price-file entries across 39 metros feed this page. A hospital appears only where its own file lists a rate for MS-DRG 786 / 787 / 788 — where it does not, it is absent from the table rather than filled in with a guess.
C-Section price by metro
The typical insurer-negotiated price for a C-Section, by metro — lowest first. 6 of these 39 metros have at least one hospital publishing a self-pay cash price; 3 publish a chargemaster list price. Open a metro for its full hospital-by-hospital breakdown and who those hospitals are.
| Metro | Typical negotiated | Range | Cash | Hospitals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis, MO | $686 | $686–$9,495 | $11,627 | 5 |
| Columbus, OH | $1,745 | $1,151–$7,568 | — | 3 |
| Kansas City, MO | $2,717 | $2,717–$13,725 | — | 7 |
| Sacramento, CA | $4,527 | $4,527 | — | 3 |
| San Francisco, CA | $4,527 | $4,527–$12,955 | — | 7 |
| Denver, CO | $7,093 | $4,124–$31,127 | — | 10 |
| Memphis, TN | $8,558 | $1,650–$11,138 | — | 3 |
| Phoenix, AZ | $8,853 | $6,240–$28,005 | $13,288 | 10 |
| Nashville, TN | $9,436 | $8,850–$12,671 | — | 9 |
| Birmingham, AL | $9,448 | $7,193–$16,342 | — | 9 |
| Austin, TX | $9,694 | $7,832–$14,557 | — | 9 |
| Jacksonville, FL | $9,993 | $9,905–$13,462 | — | 3 |
| Buffalo, NY | $10,026 | $5,207–$12,035 | — | 3 |
| Detroit, MI | $10,077 | $8,452–$16,696 | — | 6 |
| Louisville/Jefferson County, KY | $10,191 | $6,376–$14,000 | $26,157 | 4 |
| Milwaukee, WI | $10,230 | $8,101–$13,851 | — | 9 |
| Indianapolis, IN | $10,655 | $9,213–$11,500 | — | 4 |
| Orlando, FL | $11,026 | $1,795–$16,341 | — | 3 |
| Cleveland, OH | $11,517 | $7,040–$13,230 | — | 9 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $11,680 | $8,616–$17,162 | — | 5 |
| Houston, TX | $11,951 | $8,737–$17,450 | — | 6 |
| San Jose, CA | $12,041 | $4,527–$18,720 | — | 3 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $13,237 | $3,577–$24,717 | — | 5 |
| Riverside, CA | $13,704 | $3,577–$19,925 | — | 6 |
| Washington, DC | $13,834 | $10,200–$17,671 | — | 7 |
| Dallas, TX | $14,028 | $2,816–$84,767 | — | 10 |
| Atlanta, GA | $14,706 | $9,757–$29,434 | — | 8 |
| Chicago, IL | $15,298 | $13,342–$17,504 | — | 3 |
| New York, NY | $15,844 | $14,757–$22,552 | $44,212 | 7 |
| Tampa, FL | $15,992 | $10,841–$18,176 | — | 4 |
| Seattle, WA | $16,266 | $4,793–$18,736 | — | 6 |
| Philadelphia, PA | $17,428 | $12,703–$26,131 | $13,683 | 12 |
| Hartford, CT | $19,332 | $9,960–$19,332 | — | 3 |
| Portland, OR | $21,147 | $10,860–$32,832 | — | 7 |
| Virginia Beach, VA | $21,519 | $1,854–$26,827 | — | 7 |
| Miami, FL | $23,848 | $15,053–$32,867 | — | 4 |
| New Orleans, LA | $25,051 | $8,689–$54,073 | — | 4 |
| San Diego, CA | $40,023 | $10,978–$59,976 | $64,260 | 5 |
| San Antonio, TX | $41,922 | $2,585–$41,922 | — | 3 |
Source: hospitals' own machine-readable Standard Charges files, published under the U.S. Hospital Price Transparency rule (45 CFR §180.50). Most recent hospital file in this dataset: July 2026. Prices are references, not quotes or bills, and never medical or financial advice — where a hospital reports no price, nothing is shown rather than a guess.
Frequently asked questions
- How much does a C-Section cost?
- Across 39 U.S. metros the typical insurer-negotiated price is about $11,680, ranging from $686 in St. Louis to $41,922 in San Antonio. Every figure is read from a named hospital's own price-transparency file for MS-DRG 786 / 787 / 788.
- Does the price include the doctor's fee?
- The hospital amount generally covers the operating room, the mother's room and board and routine care. It does not usually include the obstetrician's delivery fee, anaesthesia — most often an epidural or spinal — or the newborn's own charges, which are billed under the baby as a separate patient.
- Why do C-Section prices differ so much between hospitals?
- The largest single omission from any published delivery price is the newborn's account, particularly if the baby needs special or intensive care. Beyond that, whether the stay is classified with or without complications shifts the hospital grouping, and length of stay varies.