How much does an ER visit cost in the US?

an ER visit typically costs $2,909 in the United States before insurance, usually between $970 and $3,043. This is an insurer-negotiated allowed amount, not the inflated list price. Source: Health Care Cost Institute — emergency room spending & price trends (2021).

What would I pay for an ER visit with insurance?

It depends on your plan. With a Silver marketplace plan ($5,304 deductible, 20% coinsurance, $10,600 out-of-pocket maximum) you pay the deductible then a share of the rest, capped at the out-of-pocket maximum. If you are uninsured you are typically quoted the hospital's cash price, which runs about 10% HIGHER than the insurer-negotiated rate.

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I end up in the ER

An emergency room visit, all causes, averaged across severity levels.

Typical US price before insurance

$2,909

$970typical range$3,043

This is an allowed amount — the price actually negotiated with insurers, not the inflated list price. Source: Health Care Cost Institute — emergency room spending & price trends (2021).

Range is the 25th–75th percentile. The most severe visits (level 5) average $3,855. Insured patients paid $646 out of pocket on average.

What Medicare pays for the same care $673

All-in: $526 to the hospital plus $147 to the doctor (OPPS/APC, 2024). Divide the two figures above and you get our ratio — check our arithmetic. We don't show a ratio here: our commercial figure is a whole ER episode (visit + labs + imaging) while Medicare's is the visit fee alone. Different things — a ratio would be meaningless. Source: CMS.

What you'd actually pay

Your coverage

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Where you live

Your state

$2,909

The national average price.

State prices from RAND's hospital price study — how much your state's hospitals charge private insurers relative to Medicare. This is a statewide price level, not a per-procedure state price. Maryland isn't shown: it sets hospital rates for all payers, so the comparison doesn't apply there.

an ER visit cost by state

Prices swing more than 2× across the country for identical care. Pick your state:

Alabama $2,417 Alaska $3,356 Arizona $3,195 Arkansas $1,855 California $3,573 Colorado $3,333 Connecticut $2,943 Delaware $3,550 District of Columbia $2,760 Florida $3,963 Georgia $3,631 Hawaii $2,817 Idaho $3,310 Illinois $2,886 Indiana $3,436 Iowa $2,600 Kansas $2,875 Kentucky $2,634 Louisiana $2,657 Maine $2,909 Massachusetts $2,210 Michigan $2,165 Minnesota $2,726 Mississippi $2,119 Missouri $2,829 Montana $2,898 Nebraska $3,264 Nevada $3,069 New Hampshire $2,474 New Jersey $3,058 New Mexico $2,806 New York $3,550 North Carolina $3,207 North Dakota $2,600 Ohio $3,172 Oklahoma $2,577 Oregon $2,920 Pennsylvania $2,565 Rhode Island $2,256 South Carolina $3,722 South Dakota $2,863 Tennessee $2,680 Texas $2,875 Utah $2,485 Vermont $3,241 Virginia $3,001 Washington $2,863 West Virginia $3,837 Wisconsin $3,676 Wyoming $3,092

This is an estimate, not a bill. It applies published average deductibles and a 20% coinsurance (KFF's measured average for a hospital admission) to a national average price. Your actual plan, hospital and diagnosis will move this number. Not medical or financial advice.