How Much Does an MRI Scan Cost? UK and US prices, all in one place.
The same scan can cost ten times more depending on where you go and who pays. We pull together NHS, UK private, US insured and US uninsured pricing for every common body part, so you can find the honest answer in under a minute.
Get your local MRI price in 10 seconds
Type your ZIP, pick a body part, and see exactly how much you'd save at an imaging centre versus a hospital in your state.
What does an MRI cost where you live?
Median published hospital cash price $2,307 against a median gross charge of $5,150, versus an imaging centre midpoint of $1,200. 24 more California hospitals publish their chargemaster unchanged as a “cash price”, up to $20,680, and are not in the band above. Always call ahead and explicitly ask for the cash-pay rate, not the chargemaster price.
The hospital band is measured; the imaging-centre band is an estimate. The hospital figures are CPT 70551 read out of 122 California hospitals' own federal transparency files, dated to September 2026, counting only hospitals that publish a real discount. Hospitals we could not read are named rather than filled in. No imaging operator publishes a per-state cash price, so that half stays our own model and carries no source. See it hospital by hospital in New Jersey hospital imaging prices. Use this to get oriented, then ask for the cash price in writing. Our methodology explains which figures on this site are measured and which are estimated.
MRI cost by body part: UK vs US
Cross-borderEvery figure in this table is one we retrieved from a published document, and the column tells you which document. UK from-prices are Vista Health's published national list, the only UK national MRI price list there is: Nuffield, Spire and Bupa quote per hospital and publish no national figure, so we quote none for them. US published cash rates are the per-scan prices a handful of operators actually post. The hospital column is our own parse of New Jersey hospitals' federal price files, because a hospital's cash price is the only US hospital price anybody is obliged to publish. Where nothing is published we say so rather than estimate.
UK NHS price for any of these scans is £0 with a referral, and the NHS does not offer routine full-body MRI screening. Vista publishes one national price for a single body part rather than a price per body part: £249 off-peak, £360 standard, £380 fast track, contrast £125 extra. The hospital column is the lowest and highest cash price published by any of the 53 New Jersey hospitals whose federal price files we parsed, excluding the eight that publish their chargemaster unchanged as their “cash price”; the figure after it is what those eight reach. Hospital prices elsewhere in the US will differ, and we will publish them state by state as we parse them. Full working, hospital by hospital, in New Jersey hospital imaging prices. If you have insurance, the number that decides your bill is your deductible, not any figure in this table: see the US guide. Sources: vista-health.co.uk, radiologyassist.com, prenuvo.com, ezra.com, all checked 16 September 2026; New Jersey hospital files dated 31 December 2025 to 2 September 2026, collected 16 September 2026.
Why does the price vary so much?
Three factors explain almost all of the variation in MRI pricing. Understand them and you can almost always find a cheaper, equally clinically valid option.
Country and healthcare system
An NHS scan is free with referral. The same scan in the US can be over $5,000 at a hospital. UK private sits in the middle, with transparent flat pricing.
Facility type
Both sides publish enough to check this. In Dallas, a hospital's own price file lists $2,324 cash for a brain MRI while an imaging-centre programme publishes $300 for the same code, in the same city.
Insurance status
Insured patients pay copay, coinsurance and remaining deductible. Cash-pay rates are sometimes lower than the negotiated insurer rate before the deductible is met.
Pick your situation
UK Patients
- NHS scans are free with GP or consultant referral
- Routine NHS wait runs 6 to 18 weeks; urgent within 2 weeks
- Private MRI from £249 (Vista Health off-peak), no GP referral
- Vista prices nationally: £249 off-peak, £360 standard, £380 fast track
- Vista Health and Scan.com self-refer; Nuffield, Spire and Welbeck need a referral
US Patients
- Dallas: $300 published at an imaging centre, $2,324 cash at a hospital
- Cash-pay rate is often lower than the insured negotiated rate
- Pre-authorisation is usually required, skipping it can mean denial
- RadiologyAssist publishes $265 all-in for an MRI without contrast
- Sesame Care visits start at $34 if you have no doctor to refer you
Estimate your MRI cost in 5 seconds
Pick your country, body part and insurance situation. US uninsured figures are the real spread from hospitals' own price files where we have parsed them, and the estimator says so when they are not.
MRI Cost Estimator
Select your body part and situation
Published imaging-centre rates start at $265. New Jersey hospitals' own price files put the cash price for this scan (CPT 70551) anywhere from $264 to $10,725. Ask explicitly for the cash-pay rate.
Estimates based on 2026 public pricing data. Actual costs vary by location, facility, and individual circumstances. Always confirm with your provider.
Frequently Asked Questions
The honest answer is that the spread is enormous and it is set by where you go, not by the scan. The operators that publish a rate card sit in the high $200s: RadiologyAssist lists $265 for an MRI without contrast and $300 flat for five common scans in Dallas, and Sesame Care reports an average of $387 without contrast on its platform. Hospitals are at the other end: parsing every reachable New Jersey hospital's federal price file puts the cash price for the same brain MRI code at $264 at the cheapest hospital and $10,725 at the most expensive. Always call and explicitly ask for the 'self-pay' or 'cash-pay' rate, and do not assume a hospital will discount: eight of the 53 New Jersey hospitals publish their chargemaster unchanged as their cash price.
Continue reading
Brain MRI Cost
UK private from £249. NJ hospital cash $264 to $10,725.
Knee MRI Cost
UK private from £249. US published cash $279 to $300.
Spine MRI Cost
Lumbar, cervical, thoracic, full spine pricing.
Full Body MRI
Prenuvo whole body $2,499. Ezra from $999. Vista full body £1,345.
MRI Cost by Country
US vs UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, India. Why Americans pay up to 10x more.
NHS Self-Referral MRI
When you can self-refer, waiting times, and the private fallback.
Private MRI in London
London clinic pricing vs the rest of the UK.
Scan.com vs Vista Health
The two big UK booking platforms compared on price and coverage.
Lumbar Spine MRI Cost
The most common back-pain MRI, UK and US 2026 prices.
Ankle MRI Cost
Sports injury, sprain, stress fracture workup costs.
Hip MRI Cost
Hip joint and MR arthrogram prices, UK and US.
Breast MRI Cost
High-risk screening and diagnostic MRI pricing.
How to Pay for an MRI
All six US payment routes mapped: insurance, cash, Medicare, Medicaid, health shares, charity care.
MRI Without Insurance
US cash-pay tactics, RadiologyAssist, MDsave routes.
MRI With Medicare
Part B 20% coinsurance, Medigap, Advantage plans.
MRI With Contrast Cost
Gadolinium add-on pricing, when contrast is essential.
MR Angiography (MRA) Cost
Vascular MRI prices, head, neck, renal, abdominal.
3T MRI Cost
High-field MRI premium, when 3T is worth it.
Open MRI Cost
For claustrophobic and larger patients.
MRI vs CT Cost
When CT is cheaper, when MRI is the right call.
Types of MRI Scan
Open, closed, with contrast, 3T, upright, sedation.
How to Save Money
Step-by-step UK and US tactics to cut your bill.