Hip & Knee Replacement Cost in North Carolina — Compare All Hospitals
Major joint replacement or reattachment of the lower extremity — most commonly elective hip or knee replacement surgery.
What this hospital charge usually covers
The gross-charge number above is the hospital's facility bill for hip & knee replacement. Here's what's typically inside that price (typical inpatient stay: 1–3 days):
Included in the hospital bill
- Operating room time and surgical-team facility fees
- Inpatient room, nursing, and routine medications during the stay
- Implant-related facility charges (varies by hospital — sometimes itemized separately)
- Recovery-room and immediate post-op monitoring
- On-site physical therapy started during admission
Usually billed separately
- Surgeon and anesthesiologist professional fees (billed separately, often by an unaffiliated practice)
- Pre-surgical imaging (MRI/X-ray) and lab work
- Outpatient physical therapy after discharge
- Home health visits or skilled nursing facility stays if needed
Quality signals to check before picking a hospital
Price alone won't tell you which hospital does hip & knee replacement best. These are the CMS quality measures that matter most for this specific procedure. Click any hospital below for its full profile, then look for these:
Hip/Knee Complications
Tracks how often patients have a serious surgical or medical complication within 90 days — the single most direct quality signal for this surgery.
Hip/Knee Readmissions
How often patients return to the hospital within 30 days of discharge. Lower means better recovery planning and follow-up.
Surgical-Site Infection (SSI)
Joint replacements carry a real infection risk because implants can't fight bacteria the way native tissue can. Lower SIR is better.
Patient Experience (HCAHPS)
Communication with nurses, pain control, and discharge planning directly affect recovery for major orthopedic surgery.
When the cheapest hospital may not be the best fit
The list below sorts by price. For hip & knee replacement, the lowest price isn't automatically the best fit — these are situations where it's worth weighing additional factors against price. None of the below is medical advice; talk to your doctor about what applies to your specific situation.
- For patients with significant heart, lung, or bleeding-disorder risk, complication and rescue rates often matter more than price.
- Revision surgery (replacement of a prior implant) is technically harder and tends to do better at a high-volume center.
- When extensive post-acute rehab is expected, a hospital with an on-site inpatient rehab unit may be worth a higher total cost.
- When a specific surgeon only operates at certain facilities, surgeon experience usually outweighs price differences across facilities.
Questions to ask your hospital or insurer
The gross charge is the starting point. These are the procedure-specific questions to ask before you commit:
- Is the surgeon, anesthesiologist, implant, and on-site physical therapy included in this estimate?
- Is the orthopedic surgeon and anesthesia group in-network for my insurance?
- What is the typical out-of-pocket once my deductible and coinsurance apply?
- What is the hospital's surgical-site infection rate for joint replacements?
- Will I be discharged home or to a skilled nursing facility? Is that cost covered?
Hospitals ranked by gross charge
- 1
Randolph Hospital
Asheboro, NC
Gross charge $15,361 - 2
Catawba Valley Medical Center (Acute Care)
Hickory, NC
Gross charge $33,751Cash pay $20,251 - 3
Sampson Regional Medical Center
Clinton, NC
Gross charge $48,956Cash pay $34,269 - 4
Duke University Hospital
Durham, NC
Gross charge $50,030Cash pay $13,508Medicare pays (avg) $16,181 - 5
Haywood Regional Medical Center
Clyde, NC
Gross charge $51,112Cash pay $20,445Medicare pays (avg) $11,657 - 6
Duke Regional Hospital
Durham, NC
Gross charge $56,425Cash pay $15,235Medicare pays (avg) $13,073 - 7
Rutherford Regional Health System
Rutherfordton, NC
Gross charge $57,719Cash pay $23,087Medicare pays (avg) $13,044 - 8
Harris Regional Hospital
Sylva, NC
Gross charge $64,244Cash pay $25,698Medicare pays (avg) $13,034 - 9
Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center
Wilmington, NC
Gross charge $82,902Cash pay $37,306Medicare pays (avg) $14,038 - 10
Maria Parham Medical Center
Henderson, NC
Gross charge $87,814Cash pay $35,126 - 11
Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center (Acute Care)
Charlotte, NC
Gross charge $96,035Cash pay $48,018Medicare pays (avg) $12,625 - 12
Novant Health Thomasville Medical Center
Thomasville, NC
Gross charge $96,035Cash pay $48,018 - 13
Novant Health Medical Park Hospital
Winston-Salem, NC
Gross charge $96,035Cash pay $48,018 - 14
Novant Health Brunswick Medical Center
Supply, NC
Gross charge $96,035Cash pay $48,018Medicare pays (avg) $12,786 - 15
Novant Health Matthews Medical Center
Matthews, NC
Gross charge $96,035Cash pay $48,018Medicare pays (avg) $11,858 - 16
Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center
Huntersville, NC
Gross charge $96,035Cash pay $48,018Medicare pays (avg) $12,197 - 17
Novant Health Mint Hill Medical Center
Charlotte, NC
Gross charge $96,035Cash pay $48,018 - 18
Novant Health Ballantyne Medical Center
Charlotte, NC
Gross charge $96,035Cash pay $48,018 - 19
Novant Health Rowan Medical Center
Salisbury, NC
Gross charge $107,473Cash pay $53,736Medicare pays (avg) $12,364 - 20
Wilson Medical Center
Wilson, NC
Gross charge $122,393Cash pay $48,957 - 21
Frye Regional Medical Center
Hickory, NC
Gross charge $135,427Cash pay $54,171 - 22
UNC Hospitals
Chapel Hill, NC
Gross charge $194,123Cash pay $116,474Medicare pays (avg) $17,251 - 23
UNC REX Hospital
Raleigh, NC
Gross charge $194,123Cash pay $116,474Medicare pays (avg) $11,471 - 24
Central Carolina Hospital
Sanford, NC
Gross charge $195,796Cash pay $78,318 - 25
CaroMont Regional Medical Center
Gastonia, NC
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $12,470 - 26
Ecu Health Medical Center
Greenville, NC
Gross charge —Cash pay $36,247Medicare pays (avg) $13,228 - 27
North Carolina Baptist Hospital
Winston-Salem, NC
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $15,081 - 28
North Carolina Specialty Hospital
Durham, NC
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $10,941 - 29
Columbus Regional Healthcare System
Whiteville, NC
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $11,838 - 30
Wakemed, Raleigh Campus
Raleigh, NC
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $13,444 - 31Gross charge —
- 32
Hugh Chatham Memorial Hospital
Elkin, NC
Gross charge — - 33
Vidant Roanoke Chowan Hospital
Ahoskie, NC
Gross charge —Cash pay $36,247 - 34
ECU Health Edgecombe Hospital
Tarboro, NC
Gross charge —Cash pay $36,247 - 35
ECU Health Duplin Hospital
Kenansville, NC
Gross charge —Cash pay $36,247 - 36
ECU Health North Hospital
Roanoke Rapids, NC
Gross charge —Cash pay $36,247Medicare pays (avg) $8,053 - 37
WakeMed Cary Hospital
Cary, NC
Gross charge —Medicare pays (avg) $10,209 - 38
ECU Health Bertie Hospital
Windsor, NC
Gross charge —Cash pay $36,247 - 39
ECU Health Chowan Hospital
Edenton, NC
Gross charge —Cash pay $36,247 - 40
The Outer Banks Hospital, Inc
Nags Head, NC
Gross charge —Cash pay $36,247 - 41Gross charge —
- 42
Angel Medical Center
Franklin, NC
Gross charge —
24 North Carolina hospitals publish gross charges for hip & knee replacement (DRG 470). Prices range from $15,361 to $195,796 — roughly 13×. The cheapest is Randolph Hospital in Asheboro; the most expensive is Central Carolina Hospital in Sanford. The state average sits at $94,414.
The number you see is each hospital's published "list price" — the gross charge for the facility component of hip & knee replacement. Insurance plans negotiate substantial discounts, Medicare and Medicaid pay fixed federal rates, and uninsured patients can usually qualify for a cash-pay discount. But the gross charge still works as a useful benchmark: a hospital that lists hip & knee replacement at twice the price of another typically negotiates higher rates with insurers too, and quotes more for uninsured patients.
If you're scheduling hip & knee replacement in North Carolina, sort the list below by price, then click each hospital name to see its quality profile — CMS overall star rating, surgical-safety measures, readmission rates, patient-experience scores. The cheapest hospital isn't always the right call. Teaching hospitals often charge more because they take complex cases, and a higher-rated community hospital may deliver equivalent outcomes for a straightforward case at a lower price. Use the price column to narrow the field; use the quality data to make the final call.
Pricing comes from each hospital's Machine-Readable File (MRF), published under the federal Hospital Price Transparency Rule. North Carolina hospitals missing from the list either don't perform hip & knee replacement in volume, haven't published a usable price for DRG 470 in their most recent MRF, or fell below our data-quality thresholds (we filter out clearly erroneous entries like $0 charges). The list refreshes as hospitals update their files.