Best hospitals for hip replacement surgery by state in the United States: A research-based guide to what rankings can and cannot show

U.S. News and World Report released the 2026-2027 Best Hospitals edition and highlighted that “most healthcare decisions are made locally,” introducing regional specialty rankings, including Orthopedics, intended to help patients identify nearby hospitals for complex care. 1 This same regional framing is important for hip replacement, but the underlying methods differ across ranking publishers, meaning “best” is not a single measurement. 1 The following sections compile the provided research into a state-by-state reporting lens using only what the sources actually support.

How “best hospitals” is measured for hip replacement (and why state comparisons are tricky)

State-by-state “best hospital” lists depend on the data elements each publisher chooses. Healthgrades’ Specialty State Rankings analyze Medicare inpatient data from the MedPAR file for years 2022 through 2024, and they evaluate outcomes across multiple inpatient procedure and condition categories. 2 Their methodology also anchors outcomes to risk-adjusted metrics using mortality- and complication-based measures, and it publishes state rankings within many specialties that include Joint Replacement and Orthopedic Surgery. 2

Because hip replacement sits inside broader orthopedic and joint replacement programs, not every state comparison is measuring the exact same clinical slice. Healthgrades describes 31 conditions or procedures analyzed for the Specialty Excellence Awards, which forms the base of final state ranking results, meaning a “joint replacement” standing is outcome-driven but is not necessarily identical to a single hip replacement CPT definition in every source. 2 Similarly, U.S. News created regional specialty rankings in Orthopedics as part of the Best Hospitals 2026-2027 update, but the provided materials do not enumerate a hip replacement-only table within each state. 1

• Look for explicit specialty scope (Orthopedics, Joint Replacement, Hip replacement) and the underlying dataset (Medicare inpatient MedPAR, risk-adjusted complications, or other outcome models). 2
• Check whether the listing is “best hospitals” by procedure and condition ratings (U.S. News Procedures and Conditions) versus state leadership for specialty excellence (Healthgrades). 1 2
• Verify what is being ranked by state versus what is ranked nationally or regionally. 1

U.S. News and World Report: regional specialty rankings that can be mapped to state access

U.S. News and World Report’s 2026-2027 Best Hospitals release emphasized local decision-making and introduced new regional specialty rankings to help patients “compare nearby care.” 1 Four regional specialty areas were named, including Orthopedics, which is relevant for hip replacement because joint reconstruction is typically handled under orthopedic care lines. 1 The release also reports that 505 Best Regional Hospitals were recognized across 49 states and Washington, D.C. based on superior patient outcomes across common procedures and conditions. 1

Within the U.S. News framework, the reporting unit is not just a hospital name but an outcome-ranked status tied to patient outcomes, care processes, and structure measures. One of the provided examples highlights that U.S. News designated Alice Peck Day Memorial Hospital as a High Performing hospital for Hip Replacement in its 2025-2026 Best Hospitals procedures and conditions ratings. 3 The same source also notes that Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center ranked regionally number one in New Hampshire, reinforcing the idea that U.S. News can support both state-level perception and regional access mapping. 3

Healthgrades state leadership: outcomes tied to Medicare inpatient data and joint-focused specialties

Healthgrades’ Specialty State Rankings are explicitly described as performance measurement anchored in Medicare inpatient data from MedPAR, purchased from CMS, using years 2022 through 2024. 2 Healthgrades also states that patient outcomes for 31 conditions or procedures were analyzed for virtually every hospital in the country, and hospital performance across these outcomes forms the base of Specialty Excellence Award and State Ranking results. 2

The state awards are framed as top-ranked hospitals in each state across 18 key specialty areas, including Joint Replacement, Orthopedic Surgery, and Surgical Care among other focus areas. 2 In practice for hip replacement comparisons, this means “state ranking leadership” can be used as a geography proxy for joint outcomes, but it should be treated as specialty-line performance rather than a single-purpose hip replacement complication-only metric. 2

• Medicare MedPAR inputs from 2022-2024 and risk-adjusted outcomes are central to the Healthgrades approach. 2
• Joint Replacement and Orthopedic Surgery are explicitly listed specialties within the state rankings methodology description. 2
• Mortality-based and complication-based categories are described as part of measured outcomes in the methodology. 2

Orthopedic and joint replacement performance examples reported in the provided data

The provided research includes an orthopedic-centered ranking table page from Newsweek for “America’s Best Hospitals for Specialized Care 2026” with an Orthopedic Care category listing hospitals, including Hospital for Special Surgery, Mayo Clinic - Rochester, NYU Langone Hospitals / NYU Langone Orthopedic Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Cleveland Clinic among the top ranks shown in the snippet. 4 In that snippet, each listed hospital is paired with a city and state, and some entries explicitly include hip replacement surgery as a standout specialty (Hospital for Special Surgery and Mayo Clinic - Rochester, for example). 4

Because hip replacement is named as a standout specialty within the Orthopedic Care category table excerpt, this source can support “by state” reporting in the sense that it lists a hospital-state pairing. 4 However, the page snippet does not show a full state-by-state exhaustive list for hip replacement, and it does not define whether the orthopedic care rank corresponds only to hip replacement cases. 4 As a result, state mapping based on this excerpt should be treated as one ranking publisher’s orthopedic specialization view rather than a comprehensive replacement for state-level hip replacement outcome tables. 4

Beyond rankings: procedure volume and cost variability affect “where to go” decisions

Rankings often focus on quality signals, but decision-making is also shaped by access and cost exposure. The OrthoProcedures data story describes 161,633 hip replacement procedures across 50 states based on Medicare fee-for-service Medicare-billed hip, knee, and shoulder replacements in 2023, attributing the data to CMS Medicare Physician and Other Practitioners Annual Release. 11 The same source reports that California, Florida, and Texas account for 20 percent of all joint replacements. 11

Costs can vary substantially for the same type of procedure. HospitalCostData’s 2026 Hospital Price Gap Report analyzes pricing data from 5,426 hospitals across 56 states and states that the most extreme case shows an 8x gap between the cheapest and most expensive provider for the same treatment. 12 For “Major Hip and Knee Joint Replacement,” the report lists min price $7.2K and max price $58.6K and a price ratio of 8x. 12

• Procedure volume is not the same as outcome quality, but it can signal where specialized capacity is more common. 11
• Documented price gaps exist even within the same procedure category, affecting affordability and insurer negotiation leverage. 12
• For hip replacement decision planning, volume and cost context should be reviewed alongside quality ranking methods. 11 12

State-level friction points and risk considerations when interpreting hip replacement “best hospital” claims

Even when quality metrics are risk-adjusted, outcomes can be influenced by patient selection, baseline severity, and post-acute pathways. Healthgrades indicates its state rankings rely on mortality-based and complication-based outcomes and uses Medicare inpatient data and risk adjustment logic within its methodology description. 2 That said, the provided materials do not supply state-by-state hip replacement complication rates, so the safest interpretation is that the ranking represents specialty-line performance signals rather than a guarantee for any individual patient. 2

Another friction point is that hip replacement care can be delivered across inpatient and outpatient settings, and costs differ by setting and billing structure. The MedRates.fyi example highlights that Valley Medical Center in Renton, Washington lists a cash price of $53,041 for total hip replacement (CPT 27130), while Willamette Valley Medical Center in McMinnville, Oregon quotes $7,003, emphasizing that the procedure is described as identical while the quoted totals differ. 13 Cost comparisons also interact with eligibility and coverage since some hip replacement episodes qualify as outpatient procedures under Medicare and many commercial plans. 13

• Ranking metrics should be checked for which episodes and outcomes they cover, including how risk adjustment is applied. 2
• Cash price listings may reflect different components and setting-dependent billing structure. 13
• Cost variation documented at the hospital level can be large even when procedure naming appears similar. 12 13

How to build a state-by-state short list using the provided research (without over-claiming)

A cautious state-by-state workflow can be built from the provided sources by separating “quality ranking signals” from “access and cost context.” For quality, U.S. News provides regional specialty rankings that include Orthopedics and also provides procedure-specific “High Performing” designations, illustrated by an explicit hip replacement example. 1 3 For joint replacement and orthopedic specialties, Healthgrades provides state ranking methodology anchored in MedPAR Medicare inpatient data and documented outcomes. 2

For access and capacity context, the OrthoProcedures data story provides hip replacement procedure counts across 50 states for Medicare fee-for-service, which can help interpret whether a state’s orthopedic volume base is broader or narrower. 11 For affordability planning, the Hospital Price Gap Report documents extreme price differences for major hip and knee joint replacement categories, and it provides min, max, and price ratio values for that procedure category. 12 Combining these elements produces a more complete picture than using rankings alone. 11 12

• Use U.S. News Orthopedics regional specialty framing and any procedure-specific “High Performing” labels as quality anchors. 1 3
• Use Healthgrades state ranking methodology as an outcomes measurement reference tied to Medicare inpatient data and specialty-line categories like Joint Replacement and Orthopedic Surgery. 2
• Use OrthoProcedures hip replacement counts by state to interpret access and capacity context, not to rank quality. 11
• Use Hospital Price Gap Report category-level price range to understand cost dispersion, not to infer outcomes. 12

Sources

1. https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/us-news--world-report-announces-2026-2027-best-hospitals-introducing-regional-specialty-rankings-to-help-patients-find-complex-care-close-to-home-302840697.html
2. https://www.healthgrades.com/quality/specialty-state-ranking-award-recipients-methodology
3. https://www.alicepeckday.org/news/us-news-world-report-names-alice-peck-day-memorial-hospital-among-best-hospitals-2025-2026-hip
4. https://rankings.newsweek.com/americas-best-hospitals-for-specialized-care-2026/orthopedic-care
5. https://orthoprocedures.com/data-story
6. https://www.hospitalcostdata.com/report/hospital-price-gap-2026
7. https://medrates.fyi/blog/2026-03-23-hip-replacement-price-differences-pacific-northwest/