Hepatitis A is one of the few vaccines where the cheapest option is sometimes free and the most expensive option is more than triple that, for the identical shot. The gap has almost nothing to do with the vaccine and everything to do with which door you walk through: a health department clinic, a retail pharmacy, or a travel clinic that bills a consultation on top.
It is also a two-dose vaccine, given at least six months apart, so the number that matters is the series total rather than the sticker on a single shot. Everything below is priced from the CDC’s own vaccine price list (page reviewed September 1, 2026, adult table dated July 29, 2026) plus the current published cash prices at three city and county public health clinics.
What Does the Hepatitis A Vaccine Cost Without Insurance?
The CDC “private sector cost per dose” is what manufacturers report charging providers, which is roughly a floor before markup and administration fees. The clinic prices are real out-the-door cash prices published by San Francisco’s AITC clinic (effective July 1, 2026), the Imperial County Public Health Department (revised October 2025), and Nevada County, California (fees effective August 6, 2025).
| Hepatitis A option | Low | Average | High |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adult dose (Havrix or Vaqta) | $83.73 (CDC list, Vaqta) | $95-$104 (Nevada and Imperial county clinics) | $118 (San Francisco AITC) |
| Complete two-dose adult series | $167 | $190-$208 | $236 |
| Pediatric dose (12 months through 18 years) | $39.99 (CDC list, Vaqta) | $50 (Nevada County) | $65 (Imperial County) |
| Complete two-dose pediatric series | $80 | $100 | $130 |
| Twinrix dose (hepatitis A + B, adults 18+) | $141.60 (CDC list) | $147 (Imperial County) | $175 (San Francisco AITC) |
| Travel clinic consultation, added on top | $0 (non-travel visit, SF AITC) | Varies by clinic | $70 per traveler (SF AITC travel visit) |
| Uninsured adult at a Section 317 clinic | $0 for the vaccine | $26 administration fee | $26, waivable if you cannot pay |
A few details worth pulling out. On the CDC’s July 29, 2026 adult list, Havrix carries a private-sector price of $89.57 per dose and Vaqta $83.73, so the two brands are close enough that you should take whichever the clinic stocks rather than shopping between them. The pediatric formulation is dramatically cheaper: $40.28 for Havrix and $39.99 for Vaqta on the June 18, 2026 pediatric list, which is under half the adult price for the same protection at a smaller dose.
The clinic-to-clinic spread on the identical adult Havrix dose is $95 in Nevada County, $104 in Imperial County, and $118 in San Francisco. That is a 24% swing across three public clinics in one state, and retail pharmacies generally sit above all three once their administration fee is added. If a quote you get looks far outside these ranges, check it against our fair price tool.
What Drives the Price
Where you get it
This is the biggest factor by far. Health departments publish flat prices and sell close to acquisition cost. Retail pharmacies add markup plus a per-visit administration fee. Travel clinics add a consultation charge: San Francisco’s AITC lists a $70 travel health visit fee per traveler for an international trip, on top of the cost of every vaccine, while charging no visit fee at all for a non-travel vaccination. If the shot is for a job, a school form, or an outbreak rather than a trip, say so and avoid the travel visit entirely.
Two doses, six to eighteen months apart
Per the CDC, Havrix and Vaqta are two-dose series with the shots at least six months apart. That long gap has a cost consequence people miss: you will pay two administration fees, and if you move or change clinics in between, you may pay a different price for the second dose than the first. Ask the first clinic to quote both doses up front.
Adult versus pediatric formulation
The pediatric dose is used from 12 months through age 18 and costs roughly half the adult one. If you are pricing shots for a teenager, confirm which formulation is being drawn, because the difference is $40 to $60 a dose.
Whether you also need hepatitis B
If you need both, the combination product changes the math slightly and the visit count considerably. See the section below.
Whether an outbreak is happening near you
Outbreak response is the one variable that can drop the price to zero, and it is entirely local. More on that next.
Outbreaks, Food Handlers, and Free Vaccine
Hepatitis A spreads through contaminated food and close personal contact, which is why health departments respond to it with mass free vaccination rather than price lists. As of September 3, 2026, the CDC and FDA are investigating a multistate outbreak potentially linked to imported frozen clams, with 37 illnesses across Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, and Pennsylvania and 30 hospitalizations. The CDC’s advice for anyone who ate the recalled product within the last 14 days and is not vaccinated is to contact a local health department or provider about post-exposure prophylaxis.
Community outbreaks work the same way. Los Angeles County declared a community-wide hepatitis A outbreak in May 2025 after a sustained rise in cases and elevated virus levels in wastewater. Its public health department offers free hepatitis A vaccine through mobile units at encampments and interim housing sites, and uninsured or underinsured residents can get vaccinated at county public health clinics.
For food handlers, there is no national vaccination mandate. Requirements come from individual cities, counties, and employers, and they surface most often during outbreaks. That is precisely when the vaccine is most likely to be free, so if a manager tells you to get the shot, call the local health department before you pay a pharmacy. Restaurants and food-service employers also frequently pay for staff vaccination outright.
Twinrix and the Combination Option
Twinrix combines hepatitis A and hepatitis B in one three-dose series for adults 18 and older. It lists at $141.60 per dose on the CDC’s adult price list, and costs $147 a dose at Imperial County and $175 at San Francisco’s clinic.
On vaccine cost alone, bundling is roughly a wash against buying the two series separately, and the answer flips depending on which price list you use. Our hepatitis B vaccine cost guide carries the full side-by-side breakdown, including the case where the combination wins. The short version: Twinrix is three appointments instead of five, so if your clinic charges an administration fee per visit or you struggle to get time off, the combination usually comes out ahead even when the vaccine itself does not.
Cash Price vs. Insurance
With ACA-compliant coverage, Medicaid, or Medicare Part D, hepatitis A vaccination is preventive care and should cost nothing in network. Paying cash never beats using compliant insurance for this shot.
The cash conversation is for the uninsured, people on short-term or health-sharing plans that carve out preventive care, and travelers who need the first dose before a trip and cannot wait on a coverage question. For that group, the sequence is: health department first, community health center second, pharmacy third, travel clinic last unless you genuinely need the travel consultation. If you are new to paying out of pocket, our start here guide for the uninsured covers the fundamentals.
How to Pay Less
Call the county or city health department first. Uninsured adults who qualify under the federal Section 317 program can get the vaccine itself free at participating clinics. San Francisco lists Havrix among its 317-covered vaccines with only a $26 administration fee, waivable if you cannot pay, versus its own $118 cash price. That is the single biggest lever available.
Ask whether an outbreak response is active. During declared outbreaks, health departments vaccinate far outside their normal eligibility rules, often at no charge and sometimes at mobile sites. It costs nothing to ask.
Use a community health center. Federally funded health centers charge on a sliding scale by income and cannot turn you away for inability to pay. Our guide to free clinics and sliding-scale care explains how to find one near you.
Kids under 19 go through Vaccines for Children. The federal VFC program covers hepatitis A vaccine for anyone 18 or under who is uninsured, underinsured, Medicaid-eligible, or American Indian/Alaska Native. Providers may charge an administration fee but must waive it if the family cannot pay, which takes a $130 series to $0.
Skip the travel consultation when you do not need it. A travel health visit adds a fee per traveler on top of every vaccine. If you only need hepatitis A for a job, a school requirement, or an exposure, book a plain immunization appointment instead. If you are traveling and need several shots, the consultation may still be worth it, and our typhoid vaccine cost guide covers the other common travel shots.
Check the bill against the quote. Clinics sometimes bill an office visit alongside the vaccine. If your bill does not match what you were quoted, our guides to negotiating medical bills and hospital charity care walk through the fix.
Bottom Line
Budget $168 to $236 for a complete two-dose adult hepatitis A series at published cash prices, and $80 to $130 for a child. Before you pay any of that, make one call to your county health department, because uninsured adults frequently get the vaccine for a waivable $26 and outbreak response can make it free outright. If you need several shots this year, our vaccine costs without insurance guide prices the rest of the adult schedule, and our flu shot cost guide covers the seasonal one.