This data is for informational purposes only. It is not medical advice. Always consult your transplant team for decisions about your care. Rankings show centers by highest survival rate and do not constitute a recommendation.

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Lung Transplant Centers — Ranked by 1-Year Survival Rate

Centers with highest 1-year graft survival rate from SRTR November 2025. 65 centers reporting.

Note: Survival rate alone does not determine the best center for your situation. Centers that accept higher-risk patients or sicker patients may have lower survival rates. Discuss your options with your transplant team.

Data Insight

This ranking orders 65 lung transplant programs from the SRTR November 2025 Program-Specific Report cohort by risk-adjusted 1-year graft survival rate. Graft survival measures the estimated probability that a transplanted lung is still functioning 12 months after surgery. SRTR calculates these estimates using statistical models that adjust for recipient characteristics such as age, diagnosis, and medical history, so centers treating higher-risk patient populations are not penalized simply for accepting more complex cases.

Across these 65 reporting programs, the average 1-year graft survival rate is approximately 87.4%. The highest-rated program in the current cohort is University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Transplant Programs in Iowa at 97.7%. The median program reports 89.5% 1-year survival. The ranked programs collectively performed approximately 8,901 lung transplants during the reporting window. An estimated 900 candidates sit on these programs' combined waiting lists.

Rankings like this one are useful as a starting point, but survival rate is not the only factor that matters when choosing a transplant center. Centers that accept sicker patients, run pediatric programs, or focus on difficult cases may report lower absolute survival while providing appropriate care. OPTN allocation rules also mean that geographic proximity to donor hospitals can affect wait times more than list position. SRTR excludes programs that fell below minimum case-volume thresholds, so some active lung programs are not ranked here. Reports update approximately twice yearly. This page reflects factual SRTR data and is not medical advice.

Rank Center State 1-yr Survival 3-yr Survival Transplants Waitlist
1 University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Transplant Programs Iowa 97.7% 86.6% 74 13
2 Spectrum Health Michigan 96.6% 82.8% 136 20
3 Indiana University Health Indiana 96.3% 71.8% 99 2
4 University of Alabama Hospital Alabama 95.7% 70.3% 80 13
5 Medical University of South Carolina South Carolina 95.1% 73.9% 50 5
6 Keck Hospital of USC California 94.7% 78.3% 84 11
7 Vanderbilt University Medical Center Tennessee 94.5% 80.1% 157 7
8 Ochsner Foundation Hospital Louisiana 94.1% 52.8% 49 6
9 UF Health Shands Hospital Florida 93.8% 80.7% 264 9
10 University of California at Los Angeles Medical Center California 93.5% 73.2% 268 24
11 St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center Arizona 93.5% 70.1% 299 8
12 University of California San Francisco Medical Center California 93.2% 83.9% 247 21
13 New York University Medical Center New York 92.9% 82.8% 163 16
14 University Hospital, University of Texas Health Science Center Texas 92.6% 73.8% 79 5
15 Mayo Clinic Florida Florida 92.6% 65.4% 155 16
16 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center California 92.5% 75.6% 148 9
17 Stanford Health Care California 92.2% 73.8% 230 16
18 Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania 92.1% 78.2% 235 30
19 Loyola University Medical Center Illinois 91.9% 63.3% 157 25
20 Houston Methodist Hospital Texas 91.8% 76.1% 252 29
21 University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics Wisconsin 91.3% 85.0% 105 6
22 Tampa General Hospital Florida 91.3% 74.8% 145 23
23 University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview Minnesota 90.9% 67.3% 121 14
24 University of California San Diego Medical Center California 90.9% 77.1% 126 4
25 Johns Hopkins Hospital Maryland 90.8% 82.4% 96 13
26 Barnes-Jewish Hospital Missouri 90.8% 70.8% 220 12
27 University Hospitals of Cleveland Ohio 89.8% 45.0% 30 7
28 University of Michigan Medical Center Michigan 89.7% 74.1% 129 16
29 University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Pennsylvania 89.6% 74.0% 186 9
30 Northwestern Memorial Hospital Illinois 89.6% 67.0% 201 1
31 Brigham and Women's Hospital Massachusetts 89.6% 65.9% 217 13
32 Florida Hospital Medical Center Florida 89.5% 70.4% 72 6
33 Froedtert Memorial Lutheran Hospital Wisconsin 89.5% 78.6% 21 2
34 Baylor University Medical Center Texas 89.5% 65.1% 104 14
35 UT Southwestern Medical Center/ Texas 89.4% 73.8% 195 28
36 Rochester Methodist Hospital (Mayo Clinic) Minnesota 89.2% 77.6% 102 15
37 North Shore University Hospital/Northwell Health New York 88.8% 100.0% 9 13
38 NY Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia Univ. Medical Center New York 88.7% 72.4% 306 30
39 The Cleveland Clinic Foundation Ohio 88.2% 75.9% 368 46
40 Massachusetts General Hospital Massachusetts 87.8% 69.6% 89 13
41 University of Colorado Hospital/Health Science Center Colorado 87.7% 76.7% 110 8
42 Jewish Hospital Kentucky 87.5% 57.5% 41 8
43 University of Maryland Medical System Maryland 87.4% 62.2% 94 12
44 Montefiore Medical Center New York 87.2% 66.3% 112 13
45 Ohio State University Medical Center Ohio 87.2% 62.1% 229 14
46 Memorial Hermann Hospital, University of Texas at Houston Texas 86.9% 67.7% 69 11
47 Jackson Memorial Hospital University of Miami School of Medicine Florida 86.7% 62.8% 94 5
48 Emory University Hospital Georgia 86.6% 79.8% 71 8
49 CHI St. Luke's Health Baylor College of Medicine Medical Center Texas 86.5% 67.3% 197 9
50 Inova Fairfax Hospital Virginia 86.3% 74.7% 108 16
51 Newark Beth Israel Medical Center New Jersey 85.9% 60.2% 49 4
52 Temple University Hospital Pennsylvania 85.8% 70.1% 441 65
53 University of Washington Medical Center Washington 85.5% 78.9% 179 51
54 Henry Ford Hospital Michigan 85.3% 77.0% 130 31
55 University of Virginia Health Sciences Center Virginia 85.2% 75.1% 91 8
56 Mount Sinai Medical Center New York 84.9% 71.4% 12 17
57 University of Utah Medical Center Utah 83.7% 86.7% 56 10
58 Integris Baptist Medical Center Oklahoma 83.3% 69.5% 63 10
59 University of Kentucky Medical Center Kentucky 83.2% 61.7% 76 2
60 Duke University Hospital North Carolina 82.1% 68.4% 388 3
61 The Nebraska Medical Center Nebraska 78.1% 66.2% 27 4
62 Banner University Medical Center-Tucson Arizona 72.4% 60.8% 91 7
63 University of Chicago Medical Center Illinois 72.2% 58.7% 60 5
64 University of North Carolina Hospitals North Carolina 69.8% 60.9% 45 4
65 Methodist Specialty and Transplant Hospital Texas 0.0% N/A N/A 5

Featured Lung Programs

A quick-scan card view of top lung transplant programs. Use the full ranking table above for complete comparisons.

University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics Transplant Programs
Iowa · Rank #1 · 97.7% 1-yr
Spectrum Health
Michigan · Rank #2 · 96.6% 1-yr
Indiana University Health
Indiana · Rank #3 · 96.3% 1-yr
University of Alabama Hospital
Alabama · Rank #4 · 95.7% 1-yr
Medical University of South Carolina
South Carolina · Rank #5 · 95.1% 1-yr
Compare Lung centers side-by-side → Lung overview

How to Read This Ranking

Survival rankings for lung transplantation reflect a single, well-defined outcome: the probability that the transplanted organ remains functional one year after surgery, adjusted for differences in patient mix. Two centers reporting the same raw survival number can sit very far apart in a risk-adjusted ranking when one accepts a much sicker waiting list than the other. SRTR's hierarchical Bayesian models lean toward the national average for low-volume centers, so a small program with five transplants in the cohort window will move less in either direction than a large program with five hundred — the ranking is most stable for centers in the middle of the volume distribution.

Risk adjustment matters because not every lung candidate carries the same baseline risk. Recipients with advanced disease, multiple prior failed transplants, donor-recipient size mismatches, or immunological sensitization will have lower expected survival before the procedure begins. SRTR's models subtract this expected survival from observed survival to produce a center-specific performance estimate. A center that consistently accepts the most complex referrals — for instance, regional referral hospitals taking patients other programs decline — can outperform on risk-adjusted survival while reporting lower raw numbers. The ranking column you see here is the adjusted figure, not the raw one.

Patients and referring clinicians use these rankings as one signal among several. Distance from home, insurance coverage, surgeon volume in your specific subtype, willingness to accept marginal donors, and program-specific eligibility criteria all weigh into a real-world transplant decision. The rankings here describe the typical outcome envelope a program has produced in the SRTR cohort window — they do not, and cannot, predict your individual outcome. Always discuss center selection with your transplant nephrologist, hepatologist, cardiologist, or pulmonologist, who can correlate published survival data with your specific clinical profile.

Caveats and Limitations

  • SRTR Program-Specific Reports are released semi-annually (May and November). Rankings shown here reflect the most recent published cohort; some single-event changes at a program may not yet be visible.
  • Programs below SRTR's minimum case-volume threshold are excluded from comparative rankings to preserve statistical reliability. Such programs may still be active and may report individual outcomes elsewhere.
  • One-year graft survival is the SRTR's primary public outcome but not the only metric that matters. Patient survival, three-year graft survival, time to transplant from listing, and post-transplant readmission rates each tell a different story about program performance.
  • Geographic concentration of transplant centers means a top-ranked program may be impractical for patients in rural or under-served regions. The Compare and State views allow filtering by geography to surface programs that are realistic options for a specific patient.

Data Sources

  • SRTR Program-Specific Reports (November 2025 release) — risk-adjusted 1-year graft survival estimates for lung transplant programs. srtr.org
  • OPTN lung allocation policy — policy governing lung distribution nationally. optn.transplant.hrsa.gov

About These Rankings

This data is for informational purposes only. It is not medical advice. Always consult your transplant team for decisions about your care. Rankings show centers by highest survival rate and do not constitute a recommendation.

Source: SRTR Program-Specific Reports, November 2025 SRTR Program-Specific Reports, November 2025 Centers are ranked by estimated 1-year graft survival probability for adult recipients. Centers without sufficient case volume are excluded per SRTR statistical methodology

Read our methodology — how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.