Healthcare Insights
Top hospitals in California by net patient revenue
Home to more than 39 million people, California is the most populated state in the U.S. According to our healthcare data, there are more than 500 active hospitals in California.
Using Definitive Healthcare’s HospitalView product, we created a list of the top hospitals in California ranked by net patient revenue (NPR), looking at the most recent 12-month interval tracked in our database.
It’s important to note that Kaiser Permanente, one of the biggest health systems in California, often does not submit full-cost reports for hospitals participating in their network to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. As a result, hospitals affiliated with Kaiser may not appear on the list below.
| Rank | California hospital name | City | Definitive ID | Net patient revenue | Explore dataset |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stanford Hospital - 300 Pasteur Dr | Stanford | 588 | $6,761,246,208 | Explore |
| 2 | UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights | San Francisco | 560 | $6,146,359,296 | Explore |
| 3 | Cedars-Sinai Medical Center | Los Angeles | 430 | $4,341,989,376 | Explore |
| 4 | University of California Davis Medical Center (AKA UC Davis Medical Center) | Sacramento | 515 | $3,613,207,296 | Explore |
| 5 | UC San Diego Medical Center | San Diego | 550 | $3,061,975,808 | Explore |
| 6 | Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center | Los Angeles | 395 | $2,860,667,648 | Explore |
| 7 | Santa Clara Valley Medical Center | San Jose | 596 | $2,810,125,056 | Explore |
| 8 | Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital Stanford (AKA Stanford Childrens Health) | Palo Alto | 586 | $2,392,709,120 | Explore |
| 9 | Helford Clinical Research Hospital (AKA City of Hope National Medical Center) | Duarte | 370 | $2,275,437,568 | Explore |
| 10 | UCI Medical Center (FKA UC Irvine Medical Center) | Orange | 470 | $2,085,589,504 | Explore |
Fig. 1 Analysis of data from the Definitive Healthcare HospitalView product and aggregated from the most recent 12-month interval tracked in our database. Data is sourced from the January 2025 Medicare Cost Report release. Accessed February 2025.
Which California hospitals have the highest NPR?
Stanford Hospital in Santa Clara County has the highest net patient revenue among California hospitals with an NPR of more than $6.7 billion, according to the most recent 12-month interval tracked in our database.
UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights in San Francisco has the second-highest NPR in California, with more than $6.1 billion. Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is in third place with an NPR of more than $4.3 billion.
Notably, the top California hospitals are evenly split between the northern and southern parts of the state. The top two hospitals, however, are both located in Northern California, while Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is in the south. The majority of hospitals that rank among the bottom five on our list are in Southern California.
The tables below show that, generally speaking, hospitals in Northern California report a higher NPR than hospitals in Southern California in the most recent 12-month period tracked in our database.
| Rank | Northern CA hospital name | City | Definitive ID | Net patient revenue | Explore dataset |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stanford Hospital - 300 Pasteur Dr | Stanford | 588 | $6,761,246,208 | Explore |
| 2 | UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights | San Francisco | 560 | $6,146,359,296 | Explore |
| 3 | University of California Davis Medical Center (AKA UC Davis Medical Center) | Sacramento | 515 | $3,613,207,296 | Explore |
| 4 | Santa Clara Valley Medical Center | San Jose | 596 | $2,810,125,056 | Explore |
| 5 | Lucile Packard Childrens Hospital Stanford (AKA Stanford Childrens Health) | Palo Alto | 586 | $2,392,709,120 | Explore |
Fig. 2 Analysis of data from the Definitive Healthcare HospitalView product and aggregated from the most recent 12-month interval tracked in our database. Data is sourced from the January 2025 Medicare Cost Report release. Accessed February 2025.
| Rank | Southern CA hospital name | City | Definitive ID | Net patient revenue | Explore dataset |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cedars-Sinai Medical Center | Los Angeles | 430 | $4,341,989,376 | Explore |
| 2 | UC San Diego Medical Center | San Diego | 550 | $3,061,975,808 | Explore |
| 3 | Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center | Los Angeles | 395 | $2,860,667,648 | Explore |
| 4 | Helford Clinical Research Hospital (AKA City of Hope National Medical Center) | Duarte | 370 | $2,275,437,568 | Explore |
| 5 | UCI Medical Center (FKA UC Irvine Medical Center) | Orange | 470 | $2,085,589,504 | Explore |
Fig. 3 Analysis of data from the Definitive Healthcare HospitalView product and aggregated from the most recent 12-month interval tracked in our database. Data is sourced from the January 2025 Medicare Cost Report release. Accessed February 2025.
Comparing northern and southern California hospitals by NPR
Patient demographics may be one reason why hospitals in Northern California report a higher net patient revenue than their southern counterparts.
Northern California has different patient demographics compared to Southern California. Northern cities like San Francisco, San Jose, and Sacramento have large populations and potentially a higher concentration of well-insured patients.
San Jose, for instance, known for being a global hub for the tech industry, may have more people with private health insurance and higher incomes, which can lead to higher reimbursement rates and more extensive healthcare utilization. The generally higher cost of living in some areas in Northern California can also potentially translate into higher healthcare prices and, consequently, increased NPR for hospitals.
Another reason why hospital NPR is higher in Northern California may be because the area is home to some renowned academic medical centers and research institutions. Stanford Hospital, for example, is known worldwide for cardiovascular medicine and surgery, cancer treatment, and organ transplantation. The UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights is known for its achievements in neurology and neurosurgery and for becoming the first hospital on the West Coast to perform 150 robotic procedures for prostate cancer patients. These institutions, and others in Northern California, offer advanced treatments and specialized services, which can attract patients from across the U.S. and generate substantial revenue.
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