Hospital Cost per Day Price History
1960–2025 · American Hospital Association / CMS
The average cost per inpatient day at a U.S. community hospital, from 1960 through 2025. In 1960, a hospital bed ran you about $32 a day — less than a decent hotel room. Fast forward to 2025 and that number has ballooned past $3,300. That's a 100x increase in 65 years. Even accounting for inflation, real costs have grown roughly tenfold. The numbers capture everything hospitals bill for — nursing, meals, room, basic supplies — but not physician fees or outpatient services, which are tracked separately.
Price in 1960
$32.00
Price in 2025
$3,350.00
Total Change
+10368.8%
Years Tracked
65
Hospital Cost per Day Over Time
Compare to inflation: The chart above shows nominal (not inflation-adjusted) prices. Use the toggle to switch to inflation-adjusted values when available, or try the inflation calculator to convert any amount between years.
Key Insights
- A hospital day cost $32 in 1960. By 2025, it's over $3,300 — a staggering 10,400% increase that dwarfs inflation in virtually every other sector of the economy.
- The 1970s and 1980s saw the fastest growth, with costs more than tripling from $74 in 1970 to $245 in 1980, then nearly tripling again to $687 by 1990. Medicare's introduction of DRG-based payment in 1983 was supposed to slow things down, but it took years to bite.
- COVID-19 caused a visible spike: the cost per day jumped 10.2% in 2020 alone, driven by staffing shortages, travel nurse premiums, and the sheer expense of treating critically ill patients.
- The mid-1990s were the one period of genuine restraint — managed care's grip kept annual increases under 4% from 1994 to 1999. That era ended as the managed care backlash gave hospitals fresh pricing power.
Year-by-Year Data
| Year | Price (USD per inpatient day) | YoY Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | $32.00 | — |
| 1961 | $34.00 | +6.3% |
| 1962 | $36.00 | +5.9% |
| 1963 | $38.00 | +5.6% |
| 1964 | $41.00 | +7.9% |
| 1965 | $44.00 | +7.3% |
| 1966 | $48.00 | +9.1% |
| 1967 | $54.00 | +12.5% |
| 1968 | $61.00 | +13.0% |
| 1969 | $68.00 | +11.5% |
| 1970 | $74.00 | +8.8% |
| 1971 | $83.00 | +12.2% |
| 1972 | $92.00 | +10.8% |
| 1973 | $102.00 | +10.9% |
| 1974 | $114.00 | +11.8% |
| 1975 | $134.00 | +17.5% |
| 1976 | $151.00 | +12.7% |
| 1977 | $170.00 | +12.6% |
| 1978 | $193.00 | +13.5% |
| 1979 | $217.00 | +12.4% |
| 1980 | $245.00 | +12.9% |
| 1981 | $284.00 | +15.9% |
| 1982 | $327.00 | +15.1% |
| 1983 | $369.00 | +12.8% |
| 1984 | $401.00 | +8.7% |
| 1985 | $460.00 | +14.7% |
| 1986 | $501.00 | +8.9% |
| 1987 | $539.00 | +7.6% |
| 1988 | $586.00 | +8.7% |
| 1989 | $637.00 | +8.7% |
| 1990 | $687.00 | +7.8% |
| 1991 | $752.00 | +9.5% |
| 1992 | $820.00 | +9.0% |
| 1993 | $881.00 | +7.4% |
| 1994 | $931.00 | +5.7% |
| 1995 | $968.00 | +4.0% |
| 1996 | $1,007.00 | +4.0% |
| 1997 | $1,033.00 | +2.6% |
| 1998 | $1,067.00 | +3.3% |
| 1999 | $1,103.00 | +3.4% |
| 2000 | $1,149.00 | +4.2% |
| 2001 | $1,217.00 | +5.9% |
| 2002 | $1,289.00 | +5.9% |
| 2003 | $1,379.00 | +7.0% |
| 2004 | $1,450.00 | +5.1% |
| 2005 | $1,522.00 | +5.0% |
| 2006 | $1,612.00 | +5.9% |
| 2007 | $1,696.00 | +5.2% |
| 2008 | $1,781.00 | +5.0% |
| 2009 | $1,853.00 | +4.0% |
| 2010 | $1,910.00 | +3.1% |
| 2011 | $1,979.00 | +3.6% |
| 2012 | $2,025.00 | +2.3% |
| 2013 | $2,074.00 | +2.4% |
| 2014 | $2,136.00 | +3.0% |
| 2015 | $2,211.00 | +3.5% |
| 2016 | $2,296.00 | +3.8% |
| 2017 | $2,390.00 | +4.1% |
| 2018 | $2,492.00 | +4.3% |
| 2019 | $2,607.00 | +4.6% |
| 2020 | $2,873.00 | +10.2% |
| 2021 | $3,013.00 | +4.9% |
| 2022 | $3,131.00 | +3.9% |
| 2023 | $3,200.00 | +2.2% |
| 2024 | $3,275.00 | +2.3% |
| 2025 | $3,350.00 | +2.3% |
Sources & Methodology
Figures are derived from the American Hospital Association's Annual Survey of Hospitals, which covers roughly 6,100 community hospitals nationwide. The cost-per-day metric divides total adjusted community hospital expenses by the number of inpatient days in a given year. "Adjusted" means outpatient revenue is factored into the denominator to better reflect total hospital activity. Data from 1960 through the late 1960s is estimated from historical AHA records and CMS reports, and carries somewhat wider uncertainty. From 1970 onward, the data is drawn directly from AHA survey submissions and is considered highly reliable.
Primary source: American Hospital Association / CMS
For a full explanation of how we collect and adjust data, see our methodology page.