Complete Blood Count (CBC): what it covers and what it costs
What does a Complete Blood Count (CBC) cost? Across 39 major U.S. metros, the typical insurer-negotiated price for a CBC (CPT 85025) runs from about $6 in Memphis, TN to $113 in San Antonio, TX, read from hospitals' own price-transparency files. 22 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 CBC price actually covers
A complete blood count measures red cells, white cells, haemoglobin, haematocrit and platelets. With a differential it also reports the proportions of white cell types. It is among the most ordered laboratory tests in medicine.
Code scope. 85025 = CBC with automated differential (the common order). CBC without differential is 85027; a manual differential adds 85007.
What is — and isn't — in the price
The published price covers the laboratory analysis. Drawing the specimen is often a small separate charge, and where blood is drawn in a hospital outpatient department a facility fee can apply on top of the test itself.
Why CBC prices differ so much between hospitals
A CBC with differential and a CBC without are separate codes at different prices. Hospital laboratory pricing for routine tests frequently sits well above independent laboratories and direct-to-consumer testing, and the proportional gap on inexpensive tests is often the widest on the whole price file.
What else usually lands on the bill
Usually ordered with a metabolic panel and often other tests in the same draw; each is its own code. A peripheral blood smear reviewed by a pathologist, if the counts are abnormal, is an additional professional charge.
What to ask before you book
Ask whether the quote is for the test with or without a differential, whether a specimen collection charge applies, and whether the draw site adds a facility fee.
Where the money actually moves
Independent laboratories and direct-to-consumer testing are frequently a fraction of hospital laboratory pricing for routine tests. Ask whether the specimen can be sent out rather than run in-house.
What the CBC numbers show nationally
A CBC costs 18.2× as much in San Antonio as in Memphis
Across the 39 metros priced here, the typical negotiated rate runs from $6 in Memphis, TN to $113 in San Antonio, TX — the same billing codes, the same procedure, 1718% apart.
The individual hospitals reporting the lowest and highest CBC prices
Lowest: ALLIANCE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM (Memphis, TN) at $1; BETHESDA HOSPITAL EAST (Miami, FL) at $3; BAPTIST MEMORIAL REHABILITATION HOSPITAL (Memphis, TN) at $5. Highest: HAZEL HAWKINS MEMORIAL HOSPITAL (San Jose, CA) at $474; CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OF PHILADELPHIA (Philadelphia, PA) at $202; BATES COUNTY MEMORIAL HOSPITAL (Kansas City, MO) at $180. These are the figures each hospital published in its own file, not an assessment of the care.
22 of 39 metros have a hospital publishing a self-pay CBC price
Cheapest published cash price: $17 (Raleigh). 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 85% below the list price for a CBC
Across the 28 metros publishing both, the chargemaster list price is typically 85% above what insurers negotiate. The widest gap is in Riverside: $213 list against $7 negotiated.
How many hospitals actually publish a CBC price
249 hospital price-file entries across 39 metros feed this page. A hospital appears only where its own file lists a rate for CPT 85025 — where it does not, it is absent from the table rather than filled in with a guess.
CBC price by metro
The typical insurer-negotiated price for a CBC, by metro — lowest first. 22 of these 39 metros have at least one hospital publishing a self-pay cash price; 29 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memphis, TN | $6 | $1–$27 | — | 4 |
| Indianapolis, IN | $7 | $7–$8 | $63 | 4 |
| Riverside, CA | $7 | $6–$24 | $111 | 6 |
| Sacramento, CA | $8 | $8–$10 | $123 | 4 |
| San Francisco, CA | $8 | $8–$10 | $123 | 7 |
| Austin, TX | $8 | $8–$58 | $41 | 9 |
| Miami, FL | $8 | $3–$9 | — | 4 |
| Nashville, TN | $8 | $8–$11 | — | 9 |
| Tampa, FL | $8 | $7–$8 | — | 6 |
| Orlando, FL | $8 | $8–$47 | — | 3 |
| Detroit, MI | $9 | $7–$18 | $20 | 6 |
| Birmingham, AL | $9 | $8–$81 | — | 10 |
| Buffalo, NY | $10 | $8–$12 | — | 3 |
| Virginia Beach, VA | $11 | $8–$13 | — | 6 |
| New York, NY | $11 | $8–$29 | $19 | 7 |
| Atlanta, GA | $12 | $6–$62 | $62 | 9 |
| Oklahoma City, OK | $12 | $7–$30 | — | 3 |
| Portland, OR | $12 | $8–$16 | — | 8 |
| Seattle, WA | $12 | $10–$88 | — | 8 |
| Kansas City, MO | $12 | $12–$180 | — | 7 |
| Hartford, CT | $14 | $8–$17 | — | 4 |
| St. Louis, MO | $14 | $5–$83 | $18 | 7 |
| Los Angeles, CA | $16 | $6–$108 | $76 | 5 |
| Cleveland, OH | $16 | $8–$52 | $35 | 8 |
| Denver, CO | $19 | $8–$165 | $101 | 10 |
| Philadelphia, PA | $19 | $8–$202 | $603 | 15 |
| Jacksonville, FL | $19 | $19 | $51 | 3 |
| Phoenix, AZ | $20 | $8–$56 | $20 | 10 |
| Washington, DC | $20 | $8–$38 | $101 | 8 |
| Raleigh, NC | $20 | $10–$20 | $17 | 3 |
| San Jose, CA | $20 | $8–$474 | — | 3 |
| Houston, TX | $21 | $20–$21 | — | 6 |
| Milwaukee, WI | $27 | $17–$97 | $70 | 9 |
| Dallas, TX | $29 | $7–$146 | $102 | 10 |
| Baltimore, MD | $30 | $22–$33 | — | 4 |
| Pittsburgh, PA | $35 | $9–$62 | $93 | 5 |
| San Diego, CA | $53 | $8–$158 | $148 | 6 |
| Chicago, IL | $61 | $59–$61 | $40 | 3 |
| San Antonio, TX | $113 | $8–$126 | — | 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 CBC cost?
- Across 39 U.S. metros the typical insurer-negotiated price is about $12, ranging from $6 in Memphis to $113 in San Antonio. Every figure is read from a named hospital's own price-transparency file for CPT 85025.
- Does the price include the doctor's fee?
- The published price covers the laboratory analysis. Drawing the specimen is often a small separate charge, and where blood is drawn in a hospital outpatient department a facility fee can apply on top of the test itself.
- Why do CBC prices differ so much between hospitals?
- A CBC with differential and a CBC without are separate codes at different prices. Hospital laboratory pricing for routine tests frequently sits well above independent laboratories and direct-to-consumer testing, and the proportional gap on inexpensive tests is often the widest on the whole price file.