Dental implant cost by city: 14 US metros compared
A single dental implant, crown included, runs about $3,100 to $5,800 across the US in 2026. The metro you live in moves that by roughly $2,200 end to end — Manhattan and Boston sit at the top, Phoenix and Atlanta at the bottom. Almost none of that spread is clinical.
- National range
- $3,100 – $5,800
- Metro spread
- ~$2,200
- Cheapest metro
- Phoenix, AZ
- Priciest metro
- New York, NY
The number you get quoted for an implant has less to do with the titanium in your jaw than with the rent on the building it is placed in. The fixture itself — the screw — costs a practice somewhere between $180 and $450 depending on the system. Everything above that is chair time, lab work, overhead and what the local market will bear.
That is worth knowing before you conclude that the $6,400 quote is for better dentistry than the $3,900 one. Sometimes it is. Often it is a postcode.
What a single implant costs in each metro
These are the 25th-to-75th percentile ranges of published fees among the practices we list in each city, for a single implant with an abutment and a zirconia crown, on a case needing no grafting.
| Metro | Typical range | vs national median |
|---|---|---|
| New York, NY | $4,600 – $6,900 | +28% |
| Boston, MA | $4,400 – $6,500 | +22% |
| San Francisco, CA | $4,300 – $6,400 | +21% |
| Seattle, WA | $4,000 – $5,900 | +12% |
| Los Angeles, CA | $3,900 – $5,800 | +9% |
| San Diego, CA | $3,700 – $5,500 | +4% |
| Chicago, IL | $3,600 – $5,400 | +2% |
| Denver, CO | $3,500 – $5,200 | −1% |
| Austin, TX | $3,400 – $5,100 | −3% |
| Miami, FL | $3,300 – $5,000 | −6% |
| Dallas, TX | $3,200 – $4,900 | −8% |
| Houston, TX | $3,100 – $4,800 | −10% |
| Atlanta, GA | $3,000 – $4,700 | −12% |
| Phoenix, AZ | $2,900 – $4,600 | −14% |
Figures are ranges collected from published fee schedules across the practices in this directory, current to August 2026. They are not a quote. Only an examination produces a quote.
Why the spread is so wide
Four things drive nearly all of it, and only one is about the dentistry.
- Commercial rent. A four-operatory practice on the Upper East Side pays roughly four times what the same footprint costs in Mesa. That flows into every fee on the schedule, not just implants.
- Staff wages. A registered dental assistant in the Bay Area earns close to double the Houston rate. An implant placement occupies two people for ninety minutes.
- Lab choice. A crown milled by a local lab that will remake it free costs a practice $180 to $340. An offshore lab crown costs $55. Both are legal, both get called "porcelain", and only one of them gets mentioned in the quote.
- Specialist versus generalist. An oral surgeon or periodontist placing the fixture typically charges 15–30% more than a general dentist doing the same placement. For a straightforward case that premium buys you very little. For a compromised site it buys you a great deal.
Where the quote grows after you say yes
The headline fee assumes a site that is ready. Roughly two in five implant patients need something else first, and these are the additions that turn a $4,200 plan into a $7,000 one.
| Procedure | Typical range | How often it is needed |
|---|---|---|
| Tooth extraction | $180 – $350 | When the tooth is still there |
| Socket preservation graft | $400 – $900 | Most immediate extractions |
| Bone graft, minor | $600 – $1,200 | About 1 in 3 cases |
| Sinus lift | $1,500 – $3,000 | Upper back teeth, ~1 in 5 |
| CBCT 3D scan | $150 – $400 | Standard of care — insist on it |
| Temporary crown | $200 – $500 | If you need a tooth meanwhile |
Is it worth travelling to a cheaper metro?
Usually not, and the reason is follow-up rather than money. An implant is not one appointment. It is a consultation, a placement, a three-to-six month healing period, an abutment fitting, a crown fitting and at least one review. If something loosens at month four, you want that practice to be a forty-minute drive, not a flight.
Saving $900 by driving from San Francisco to Sacramento stops looking clever on the fifth round trip. The exception is a full-arch case, where the sums are large enough that a $6,000 difference genuinely justifies travel — and where the treatment is compressed into fewer, longer visits anyway.
How to use these numbers in a consultation
- Ask for an itemised written treatment plan before any deposit. Every practice we list agrees to provide one as a condition of listing.
- Ask which implant system is being used, and whether parts for it will still be available in fifteen years. Straumann, Nobel Biocare and Astra all will. Some discount systems will not, and a failed abutment on a discontinued system means redoing the whole thing.
- Ask where the crown is milled and what the remake policy is.
- If the quote is more than 20% above the top of your metro range, ask what is in it that is not in the table above. There is often a good answer. There should always be an answer.
Common questions
Why is my quote higher than the range on this page?
Usually because it includes something the range does not — a graft, a sinus lift, an extraction, or a specialist placing the fixture. Occasionally because the practice is at the top of its local market. Ask for the itemised plan and compare line by line.
Does dental insurance cover implants?
Most PPO plans now cover implants at 50% after the deductible, but the annual maximum of $1,000 to $2,000 caps what you actually receive. Plans with a missing-tooth clause exclude teeth lost before the policy started.
Are cheap implants abroad a real saving?
The treatment cost is genuinely 50–70% lower. The risk is that follow-up, warranty and any remedial work are not. Price the trip including a second visit for complications, because roughly one case in twenty needs one.
How much is a full mouth of implants?
All-on-4 runs about $18,500 to $28,000 per arch and All-on-6 about $24,000 to $36,000. The per-tooth cost is far lower than replacing each tooth individually.
