10 Cities With Most, Least Expensive Hospitals

by Alia Paavola for Becker’s Hospital Review

On average, Milwaukee has the most expensive hospitals in the nation, while Buffalo, N.Y. has the least expensive hospitals, according to the Amino Facility Cost Rating analysis.

The Amino Cost Rating is built on the Amino Facility Cost Index, which measures the expensiveness of a facility based on outpatient fee-for-service procedures.

The facility cost index compares the price of services for different combinations of facilities and insurance payers. The data includes comparisons of more than 35,000 facilities, 125 insurance payers and 6,500 procedures.

To determine the cities with the most and least expensive hospitals, Amino averaged the Amino Cost Ratings for hospitals in the biggest metropolitan areas in the U.S. Then, they were ranked based on city-specific averages.

Here are the 10 cities with the most expensive hospitals, along with their average cost rating.

1. Milwaukee (3.27)
2. San Jose, Calif. (2.9)
3. San Francisco (2.7)
4. Sacramento, Calif. (2.63)
5. San Diego (2.58)
6. Seattle (2.35)
7. Louisville, Ky. (2.22)
7. Minneapolis (2.22)
9. Indianapolis (2.18)
10. Portland, Ore. (2.14)

Here are the 10 cities with the least expensive hospitals along with their average cost rating.

1. Buffalo, N.Y. (1.06)
2. Rochester, N.Y. (1.25)
3. Baltimore (1.33)
4. Tampa, Fla. (1.39)
5. Philadelphia (1.42)
6. Dallas (1.46)
6. New Orleans (1.46)
6. New York City (1.46)
6. Pittsburgh (1.46)
10. Birmingham, Ala. (1.5)