A Typical Hospital Stay Tops $16,000 — Here’s Where It Takes the Most Work to Earn That Much

Written by  Maggie Gunara

Edited by  Dan Shepard

+ 1 More

Published Oct 05, 2026

A hospital stay can now carry expenses exceeding what the average American earns in two and a half months of work. 

A LendingTree analysis found that the average inpatient stay carries an estimated $16,353 in hospital expenses. Depending on where you live, earning that amount could take anywhere from a couple of months to the better part of a year. 

It takes nearly 11 weeks of work to earn the equivalent of a typical hospital stay

The average hospital stay lasts 4.96 days and carries estimated expenses of $3,297 per day, according to our analysis, adding up to $16,353 for a typical stay. 

For the typical U.S. worker earning $37.62 an hour on average, earning that amount would require 435 hours of labor — close to 11 weeks, or about one-fifth of a standard 2,080-hour work year. (This assumes 40 hours of work a week for 52 weeks and doesn’t account for PTO, vacations or other time off.)

According to LendingTree health insurance expert Cate Deventer, a patient’s bill can vary widely. 

“The amount you might pay after a hospital stay can vary widely depending on whether you’re insured, the details of your plan and how much healthcare you’ve had earlier in the year,” she says. “For example, two people with the same plan could pay vastly different amounts if one person has nearly met their out-of-pocket maximum for the year and the other hasn’t.”

Where hospital stays have the highest (and lowest) estimated expenses

Estimated hospital expenses vary widely by state. California tops the list at $23,530 per typical stay — 43.9% above the $16,353 national average — equivalent to 569 hours of labor based on average hourly earnings of $41.32.

The District of Columbia ($23,153) follows, where residents would need to work 429 hours to earn the equivalent amount based on average hourly earnings of $54.02, followed by Idaho ($22,236), where residents would need to work 648 hours based on average hourly earnings of $34.32. 

At the other end of the spectrum, Mississippi has the lowest estimated hospital expenses in the country, at $6,949 per typical stay — and it’s one of only two states, along with Alabama ($9,781), where estimated expenses for a typical stay are less than $10,000.

Idaho workers face the most work hours, especially at minimum wage

While California has the highest estimated hospital expenses, Idaho residents need the most work hours to earn the equivalent of a typical stay. Based on the state’s $22,236 in estimated expenses for a typical hospital stay and average hourly earnings of $34.32, Idaho workers would need to work 648 hours — more than anywhere else in the country. 

Utah (624 hours) and New Mexico (595 hours) aren’t far behind. 

At the other end of the spectrum, Mississippi workers would need 247 hours to earn the equivalent of the estimated expenses for a typical hospital stay — 188 hours fewer than the national average. Alabama (311 hours) and South Dakota (325 hours) follow. 

The required work time is far greater for Idaho’s minimum wage workers, who earn $7.25 an hour and would need to work 3,067 hours — nearly a year and a half of full-time work — to earn the equivalent of the estimated expenses for a typical stay. Utah (3,013 hours) and North Dakota (2,339 hours) follow. All 15 states where minimum wage workers need the most hours have a $7.25 minimum wage. (These include states with a statewide minimum wage of $7.25 and those where the federal $7.25 minimum applies.)

By comparison, South Dakota workers earning the state’s $11.85 minimum wage would need to work 860 hours, the fewest nationwide. Hawaii (952 hours) and Nebraska (954 hours) follow.

Full rankings: States where residents need to work the most/least hours to earn the equivalent of the estimated expenses for a typical hospital stay

Full rankings: Where minimum wage earners need to work the most/least hours to earn the equivalent of the estimated expenses for a typical hospital stay

Hospital expenses are climbing much faster than paychecks

The gap between hospital expenses and workers’ earnings is widening. Since the previous analysis, estimated hospital expenses for a typical stay rose 26.1%, from $12,974 (using 2021 data, the latest available at the time) to $16,353 (using 2024 data). 

Meanwhile, average hourly earnings rose 11.2%, from $33.82 (using 2022 data) to $37.62 (using 2025 data).

It now takes 13% longer to earn the equivalent of a hospital stay

The work time needed to earn the equivalent of the estimated expenses for a typical hospital stay has climbed 13.3% since our previous analysis — from 384 to 435 hours. 

That’s largely due to a longer average hospital stay, which rose from 4.50 to 4.96 days, and a 14.4% rise in daily hospital expenses — higher than the 11.2% increase in hourly earnings. 

By state, the required work time grew fastest in Alaska (62.3%), North Dakota (56.2%) and Idaho (40.0%). 

Just three states saw decreases: Nevada (4.6%), Arkansas (2.2%) and Hawaii (0.2%). 

Full rankings: States with the biggest increases in work time equivalent to estimated hospital stay expenses

Plan ahead to lower hospital costs

If you’re facing a nonemergency hospital stay, doing some research beforehand can help you understand what you may owe and potentially reduce your out-of-pocket costs. Deventer recommends the following:

Methodology

LendingTree researchers used 2024 KFF data on hospital expenses per adjusted inpatient day, based on American Hospital Association (AHA) data. To estimate the expenses for a typical hospital stay, researchers multiplied the daily expense by the average stay of 4.96 days, according to Definitive Healthcare data as of October 2025. They then divided that amount by average hourly earnings to estimate how many hours a worker would need to work to earn the equivalent amount. 

State earnings are 2025 annual averages for employees on private nonfarm payrolls from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), while the national estimate uses preliminary July 2026 BLS average hourly earnings for employees on private nonfarm payrolls. State minimum wages are as of July 1, 2026, according to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). Researchers used the standard statewide rate where multiple rates apply.

For comparisons with the previous analysis, the current study uses 2024 hospital expense data, while the previous analysis used 2021 data. Each analysis used the most current earnings and length-of-stay figures available at the time.