Urgent Care Visit Cost Without Insurance: 2026

5 days ago

8 min read

We read the posted self-pay price pages of 30 US urgent care operators, from national chains to single clinics, with locations in more than 20 states, and logged 98 prices for visits, visit tiers, add-on services, and virtual care. The data shows what an uninsured patient pays for urgent care as of the fourth quarter of 2026.

Key Findings

The median posted self-pay price for a new in-person urgent care visit was $179 across 30 US operators in November 2026.
Base visit prices ran from $120 at Northwell Health-GoHealth and Nuvance Health-GoHealth to $260 at ZoomCare and CityHealth Urgent Care in November 2026.
At 17 operators with tiered visit pricing, the highest tier cost a median $349 in November 2026, or 1.94 times the basic tier at the median operator.
Stitches or laceration repair added a median $129 to a self-pay bill at the five operators that posted the price in November 2026.
Virtual visits cost a median $80 less than an in-person visit at the same operator, across 11 operators in November 2026.

Urgent care centers sit between a doctor's office and an emergency room, and many now post a cash price for uninsured patients right on their websites. The catch is that each operator defines its basic visit differently. WellNow's $175 flat rate includes any X-rays, AFC Urgent Care Swampscott's $169 simple visit includes instant lab tests, and Baptist Health Urgent Care's $199 standard tier includes one COVID-19 test.

Our analysts recorded the lowest new-patient visit price at each operator, the full range of visit tiers where posted, and every add-on and virtual visit price listed on the same pages. We kept each figure as posted and computed medians and differences across operators.

In the following sections, we compare base visit prices by operator, the gap between basic and top visit tiers, common add-on charges, and virtual vs in-person visit prices.

Urgent Care Visit Cost Without Insurance by Operator

The first number a cash-paying patient sees is the base visit fee. We lined up that fee for every operator in the sample, sorted from highest to lowest.

Lowest Posted Self-Pay Price for a New Urgent Care Visit (November 2026)

Operator	Type	Location	Base visit price
CityHealth Urgent Care	Independent	San Leandro, CA	$260
ZoomCare	Chain	Portland and Seattle	$260
Docs Urgent Care	Independent	Connecticut	$250
Inova-GoHealth	Health system	Northern Virginia	$230
University of Maryland Urgent Care	Health system	Maryland	$200
Baptist Health Urgent Care	Health system	South Florida	$199
FastMed	Chain	NC, AZ, TX	$199
UPMC-GoHealth	Health system	Pittsburgh, PA	$199
AFC Urgent Care Somerset	Chain	Somerset, NJ	$190
Next Level Urgent Care	Independent	Houston, TX	$190
AFC Urgent Care Wendell	Chain	Wendell, NC	$189
AFC Urgent Care Granada Hills	Chain	Los Angeles, CA	$180
CareNow	Chain	TX, CO, and other states	$180
MD Now	Chain	South Florida	$180
AFC Urgent Care Arlington	Chain	Arlington, MA	$179
AFC Urgent Care Denver Leetsdale	Chain	Denver, CO	$179
BayCare Urgent Care	Health system	Tampa Bay area	$175
WellNow	Chain	NY, IL, MI, OH, IN	$175
AFC Urgent Care Houston	Chain	Houston, TX	$169
AFC Urgent Care Methuen	Chain	Methuen, MA	$169
AFC Urgent Care Swampscott	Chain	Swampscott, MA	$169
Patient First	Chain	MD, NJ, VA, PA	$155
ChristianaCare-GoHealth	Health system	Delaware	$150
Silver Cross Urgent Care	Health system	Chicago area	$150
Urgent Team	Chain	TN, GA, AL, and other states	$150
Baptist Health Urgent Care Express	Health system	South Florida	$149
CityDoc Urgent Care	Independent	Dallas-Fort Worth, TX	$135
Midwest Express Clinic	Chain	Chicago area	$125
Northwell Health-GoHealth	Health system	New York City area	$120
Nuvance Health-GoHealth	Health system	New York and Connecticut	$120

Source: Signal Hill Strategies analysis of self-pay price pages posted by 30 urgent care operators, read November 4, 2026

Bar chart of the lowest posted self-pay price for a new in-person urgent care visit at 30 US operators, from $120 to $260, with a median of $179

Source: Signal Hill Strategies analysis of self-pay price pages posted by 30 urgent care operators, read November 4, 2026

Key Findings

Health-system urgent care networks posted the lowest median base price, $162.50 across 10 operators. Chains and franchise locations came in at $179 across 16, and the four independent clinics at $220.
Five of the 30 operators charge $200 or more for a basic visit, and 19 charge $180 or less. AFC franchise locations alone ranged from $169 to $190, so one brand can price differently from town to town.
A typical cash visit costs 1.88 times what Medicare pays a physician office for a mid-level established-patient visit in 2026, $95.19 for CPT 99213. Northwell Health-GoHealth's $120 basic visit comes closest to that Medicare rate.

Self-Pay Urgent Care Prices by Visit Level

More than half of the operators in the sample post several visit levels. The level a patient lands in depends on what the visit needs, such as an X-ray, medication, or a procedure.

Basic and Highest Self-Pay Visit Tiers at Urgent Care Centers (November 2026)

Operator	Basic tier	Highest tier	Difference
Baptist Health Urgent Care	$199	$749	$550
ChristianaCare-GoHealth	$150	$360	$210
Northwell Health-GoHealth	$120	$325	$205
Nuvance Health-GoHealth	$120	$325	$205
Baptist Health Urgent Care Express	$149	$349	$200
BayCare Urgent Care	$175	$350	$175
CareNow	$180	$350	$170
MD Now	$180	$350	$170
AFC Urgent Care Denver Leetsdale	$179	$349	$170
AFC Urgent Care Granada Hills	$180	$330	$150
ZoomCare	$260	$400	$140
UPMC-GoHealth	$199	$325	$126
Inova-GoHealth	$230	$350	$120
University of Maryland Urgent Care	$200	$300	$100
Silver Cross Urgent Care	$150	$250	$100
AFC Urgent Care Houston	$169	$249	$80
Next Level Urgent Care	$190	$265	$75

Source: Signal Hill Strategies analysis of self-pay price pages posted by 30 urgent care operators, read November 4, 2026

Dumbbell chart of basic and highest self-pay visit tier prices at 17 urgent care operators, with Baptist Health Urgent Care ranging from $199 to $749

Source: Signal Hill Strategies analysis of self-pay price pages posted by 30 urgent care operators, read November 4, 2026

Key Findings

Baptist Health Urgent Care in South Florida posts the widest spread, from $199 for standard care to $749 for its complex tier, which covers any procedure within the center's scope. A CT scan adds $800 on top of that tier.
Most tiered operators top out between $325 and $360. Eleven of the 17 fall in that band, including CareNow, MD Now, and five GoHealth partner networks.
The basic price on a clinic's website sets the floor for a self-pay bill. A patient who needs an X-ray or a procedure at a tiered clinic can expect to pay about double that rate, and Patient First takes a different approach by capping the visit plus add-ons at $350.

Urgent Care Add-On Costs for X-Rays, Labs, and Stitches

Operators without tiers usually bill each test or procedure on top of the visit. These are the add-ons posted most often on the same price pages.

Posted Self-Pay Add-On Prices at Urgent Care Centers (November 2026)

Service	Operators posting	Median	Lowest	Highest
Stitches or laceration repair	5	$129	$75	$150
X-ray (each view or exam)	10	$74.50	$25	$120
EKG	7	$69	$25	$130
In-house lab test (each)	4	$40	$25	$62
Flu shot	14	$35	$18	$55

Source: Signal Hill Strategies analysis of self-pay price pages posted by 30 urgent care operators, read November 4, 2026

Range chart of posted self-pay add-on prices at urgent care centers, with medians of $129 for stitches, $74.50 for X-rays, $69 for an EKG, $40 for an in-house lab test, and $35 for a flu shot

Source: Signal Hill Strategies analysis of self-pay price pages posted by 30 urgent care operators, read November 4, 2026

Key Findings

X-ray prices vary nearly fivefold, from $25 at CityDoc Urgent Care in Dallas-Fort Worth to $120 at Patient First. EKGs show a similar spread, $25 to $130.
Flu shots are the most widely posted add-on, listed by 14 operators. CityDoc's $18 flu shot does not require its visit fee.
At median prices, a cut that needs stitches and an X-ray adds about $204 to a self-pay visit. Patient First and Next Level Urgent Care both cap their total charges, which limits how far add-ons can push a bill.

Virtual vs In-Person Urgent Care Cost Without Insurance

Many urgent care operators now offer a video visit alongside the walk-in clinic. Comparing the two prices at the same operator shows how much a patient saves by staying home.

In-Person and Virtual Self-Pay Visit Prices at the Same Operator (November 2026)

Operator	In-person visit	Virtual visit	Difference	Savings
FastMed	$199	$79	$120	60.3%
CareNow	$180	$75	$105	58.3%
MD Now	$180	$75	$105	58.3%
AFC Urgent Care Denver Leetsdale	$179	$95	$84	46.9%
Inova-GoHealth	$230	$150	$80	34.8%
Urgent Team	$150	$70	$80	53.3%
Patient First	$155	$90	$65	41.9%
UPMC-GoHealth	$199	$150	$49	24.6%
Northwell Health-GoHealth	$120	$75	$45	37.5%
Nuvance Health-GoHealth	$120	$75	$45	37.5%
ChristianaCare-GoHealth	$150	$150	$0	0.0%

Source: Signal Hill Strategies analysis of self-pay price pages posted by 30 urgent care operators, read November 4, 2026

Paired bar chart of in-person and virtual self-pay visit prices at 11 urgent care operators, with FastMed at $199 in person and $79 virtual

Source: Signal Hill Strategies analysis of self-pay price pages posted by 30 urgent care operators, read November 4, 2026

Key Findings

FastMed shows the biggest gap, $199 in person against $79 for a telemedicine appointment, a 60.3% savings. CareNow and MD Now each charge $75 for a virtual visit, less than half their $180 in-person price.
ChristianaCare-GoHealth is the only operator in the group that charges the same $150 for both. At the median operator, a virtual visit costs 41.9% less.
For minor problems that do not need a test, a virtual visit is the cheapest self-pay option at most of these operators. Standalone telehealth services price in the same range, and Teladoc lists $89 per visit.

For people without insurance, these prices make urgent care a fairly predictable option for common problems. Most operators in the sample post a flat visit fee, and many post add-on prices too, so a patient can estimate the bill before walking in.

The broader trend is toward packaged pricing. Tiered visit levels, bundled lab tests, and price caps all give cash-paying patients one number up front.

So if you are paying cash for urgent care, check the operator's posted self-pay page first and ask which visit tier your problem is likely to fall into.

Sources

Methodology

We read the self-pay price pages of 30 US urgent care operators on November 4, 2026: 16 chains and franchise locations, 10 health-system urgent care networks, and 4 independent clinics.
The base visit price is the lowest posted price for a new in-person visit. Where a page posted a range for the basic tier, we used the low end. Follow-up, physical, and limited-service visits are excluded.
The highest tier is the top posted visit level, using the high end of any range, for the 17 operators that post more than one visit level.
Add-on prices are those posted as separate charges. X-ray covers prices posted per view or per exam, including chest X-rays.
Virtual visit comparisons include only the 11 operators that post both an in-person and a virtual visit price.
WellNow lists prices effective April 1, 2023, and AFC Urgent Care Houston lists prices effective January 1, 2024; both were the posted prices on November 4, 2026. We excluded retail clinics, price lists dated before 2023, and pages on development or backup web addresses.
The Medicare comparison uses the 2026 national non-facility payment for CPT 99213 from the CMS Physician Fee Schedule relative value file, as published by FastRVU.
Derived figures were calculated from these data.