You can get a hearing test at an audiologist’s office, an ENT clinic, your primary care doctor’s office, a university audiology clinic, or certain retail hearing centers like Costco or hearing aid retailers. The best choice depends on whether you need a basic screening or a full diagnostic evaluation, and whether you have insurance coverage.
Audiologist Offices
An audiologist is the most common choice for a thorough hearing evaluation. Audiologists hold graduate degrees in audiology (typically a four-year doctoral program after a bachelor’s degree), pass a national exam, and complete a clinical fellowship before they’re licensed. They’re trained to identify the type and degree of hearing loss, fit hearing aids, and help you and your family adapt to changes in hearing.
A full evaluation at an audiologist’s office typically includes several tests done in a soundproof booth. During pure tone testing, you wear headphones and signal when you hear tones at different pitches and volumes. Speech audiometry measures how well you can detect and repeat spoken words. Tympanometry checks how your eardrum vibrates and whether sound flows normally through your middle ear. The whole process is painless and usually takes 30 to 60 minutes, with results available immediately.
To find an audiologist near you, search your insurance provider’s directory or check the American Academy of Audiology’s online locator.
ENT Clinics
An ENT (ear, nose, and throat doctor) is a physician who diagnoses and treats medical conditions of the ear, including hearing loss caused by infections, tumors, structural problems, or fluid buildup. ENTs can order imaging, prescribe medication, and perform surgery when needed. Many ENT offices have an audiologist on staff who handles the actual hearing test, then the ENT interprets results alongside a broader medical workup.
If your hearing loss came on suddenly, affects only one ear, or is accompanied by pain, dizziness, or ringing, starting with an ENT makes sense. For gradual, age-related hearing changes, going directly to an audiologist is usually faster and more straightforward.
Primary Care Doctors
Your regular doctor can perform a basic hearing screening during an office visit using whispered voice tests, tuning forks, or tones from an ear examination scope. A specialized tuning fork test can even help distinguish whether hearing loss originates in the inner ear or the middle ear: the fork is held in the air beside your head to test air conduction, then placed against the bone behind your ear to test bone conduction.
These in-office screenings are useful as a first step, but they’re not as precise as formal audiometry in a soundproof booth. If your doctor detects a problem, they’ll refer you to an audiologist or ENT for a complete evaluation.
University Audiology Clinics
Many universities with audiology programs run teaching clinics that are open to the public. Graduate students perform the tests under direct supervision of licensed audiologists, using the same professional-grade equipment you’d find in a private practice. These clinics often charge lower fees, and some offer sliding-scale pricing or financial assistance for uninsured patients. Because they serve a teaching function, appointments may take a bit longer, but the quality of the evaluation is comparable to what you’d get elsewhere.
Search for “university audiology clinic” plus your city or state to find one nearby. Programs at large state universities and medical schools are the most common.
Retail and Big-Box Stores
Costco, Sam’s Club, and many hearing aid retail chains (like HearingLife, Miracle-Ear, or Beltone) offer free or low-cost hearing screenings. These are typically shorter than a full diagnostic evaluation and are designed to identify whether you’d benefit from hearing aids. The staff at these locations are often hearing instrument specialists rather than audiologists, which means they’re licensed to test hearing and fit devices but don’t have the same depth of diagnostic training.
A retail screening works well if you suspect mild, gradual hearing loss and want a quick check before committing to a full evaluation. It’s less appropriate if you have complex symptoms or need documentation for medical treatment.
Online Hearing Tests
Several websites and apps offer free hearing screenings you can take at home with headphones. These can be a reasonable first step. A study published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research found that a calibrated internet-based hearing test had 75% sensitivity and 96% specificity compared to a clinical audiogram, meaning it correctly identified most people with hearing loss and rarely flagged someone who could hear normally.
The catch is that home tests can’t control for background noise, headphone quality, or earwax buildup, all of which affect accuracy. They also can’t measure middle ear function or distinguish between types of hearing loss. Think of an online test as a screening tool that tells you whether a professional evaluation is worth scheduling, not a replacement for one.
What It Costs
A comprehensive audiometry evaluation runs around $125 for the professional services alone, though prices vary by location and provider. Many insurance plans cover diagnostic hearing tests when ordered by a doctor.
Medicare Part B covers diagnostic hearing and balance exams when a doctor orders them to determine if you need medical treatment. As of recent policy changes, Medicare also allows one visit to an audiologist every 12 months without a doctor’s order for non-acute hearing conditions like gradual age-related loss. However, Medicare does not cover hearing aids or the exams specifically for fitting hearing aids.
If you’re uninsured or underinsured, look into community health centers, nonprofit hearing organizations, and the university clinics mentioned above. Some organizations provide financial assistance for both hearing tests and hearing aids. Your local Area Agency on Aging or state health department can often point you toward resources in your area.
How Often to Get Tested
The World Health Organization recommends hearing screenings starting at age 50. If your results are normal, rescreening every five years is sufficient until age 65. After 65, screening every one to three years is advised, since age-related hearing loss accelerates and early detection opens up more treatment options. If you work in a noisy environment, have a family history of hearing loss, or notice changes at any age, don’t wait for the recommended interval.