How Much Does a Breast Augmentation Cost?

Breast Augmentation Costs

Breast augmentation surgery is consistently one of the most popular Plastic Surgery procedures in the United States every year. In fact, there were over 300,000 breast augmentations performed in the United States in 2017, making it the #1 cosmetic surgical procedure according to the ASPS 2017 Plastic Surgery Statistics Report. Americans spent a staggering $1,116,805,404 on breast augmentations in 2017 according to the same report. That’s a LOT of surgery folks!

For all of you considering breast augmentation surgery, I am fully aware that pricing is a very important part of your decision-making process. What I would like to do in this blog is explain how a price quote is put together for an elective, out-of-pocket cosmetic surgery and then touch on some typical pricing for breast augmentation surgery.

Let’s start with the price quote. There are multiple components of an elective cosmetic surgery quote, and they all must be added together to get you the “all-in” price. The first and typically most expensive component of the quote is the surgeon’s fee. This is the amount of money your Plastic Surgeon is charging you to actually perform the breast augmentation. The national average surgeon’s fee for breast augmentation in 2017 was $3718 according to the above-mentioned study. So remember, this means half of the fees are less than this and half of the fees are MORE than this. Surgeon’s fees will vary widely depending on your geographical location as well as your proximity to major metropolitan areas. A breast augmentation is going to cost A LOT more in Manhattan or Los Angeles than it will in a small town in middle America.

See our before & after photos of breast augmentation.

The next component of the quote is your surgery center fee. This is typically split into 2 parts – the anesthesia fees and the facility fees. Sometimes they are paid together and somethings they are paid separately. These fees are what the anesthesiologist charges you to go to sleep and what the surgery center charges you for nursing, OR supplies, IVs, recovery, etc. Just like surgeon’s fees, facility fees can vary widely. On a straightforward breast augmentation, total surgery center fees should typically be between $1200-$1500.

The next component of the quote is the cost of the breast implants. Implants can and will vary in price quite a bit. Saline implants might cost you $400 for the pair. Some of the newer silicone implants on the market cost over $2100 for the pair. A fair price for silicone implants is around $1500 per pair. I do not mark up the price of my implants. I charge the patient the same price that I am charged by the manufacturer. Some Plastic Surgeons do mark up their implants in order to make more money from their surgeries. Be sure to ask your surgeon if he or she does this if you disagree with it.

The final component of the quote is what I call incidentals and extras. For my quotes, this includes a small charge for a special funnel I use to insert the implants during surgery, a surgical bra you are placed into after surgery, and a cosmetic insurance policy that protects you against complications for 45 days after your procedure. This can range in price from $150 to $400.

It is important that you pay attention to the numbers you are quoted after your consultation. Some Plastic Surgeons will make it look like their prices are much lower than others because they are only providing you with their surgeon’s fees and omitting all the other charges I summarized above. Don’t be caught off guard when it is time to pay for the surgery and all of a sudden you owe a couple thousand dollars more than you originally thought because the doctor’s office did not give you an all-inclusive price. Most offices (mine included) are happy to collect all of the fees and then pay the surgery center for you, but some offices require you to pay the facility fees directly to the surgery center.

So, with the components of the price quote just explained, let’s answer the question! How much does a breast augmentation cost? Let’s take some very reasonable numbers and put them together. Let’s say $4000 for surgeon’s fees, $1200 for all surgery center fees, $1500 for 2 silicone breast implants, and $350 for the incidentals. This puts your “all-in” price at $7050. And yes, I know — there are going to be all-inclusive price quotes that are less than this just as there are going to be all-inclusive price quotes that are much, much higher than this.  Once again, it all depends on where you are from a geographic standpoint.

Remember, I am taking numbers that I feel are fair and putting together an example quote. I am not stating that this is my exact price for breast augmentation. I am simply taking into consideration pricing that reflects a general average between high and low components of quotes across the nation.  I have seen silicone breast augmentation specials for $3995 and I know of patients that have paid over $10,000 for their augmentation. My advice? Never go to the cheapest doctors because they might not be very good at what they do, or they aren’t a board-certified Plastic Surgeon at all (the most likely scenario). And avoid the doctors who charge double and triple the national averages because it is pretty unlikely they do anything better than the other well-trained Plastic Surgeons in the area who charge fair prices.  Find a board-certified Plastic Surgeon who spends plenty of time with you during your consultation, makes you feel comfortable and confident in his or her abilities and provides you with a price quote that you feel is fair.  Remember, you get what you pay for!

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