Purpose Hip arthroscopy is known to be safe with low rates of postoperative complications. The purpose of this study is to evaluate hip arthroscopy cases in a national surgical database to identify risk factors associated with readmission. Methods The American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program database was queried from 2012 to 2016 for current procedural terminology billing codes related to hip arthroscopy. International Classification of Diseases diagnostic codes were used to exclude cases involving infection, fracture, or open procedures. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify risk factors associated with 30-day readmission. Results 1493 patients were identified who had undergone hip arthroscopy. The most common procedures were labral resection or chondroplasty ( n  = 589, 39.5%) and femoroplasty ( n  = 527, 35.3%). The 30-day complication rate was 1.7% and the most common complications following the procedure were bleeding ( n  = 12, 0.8%) superficial infections ( n  = 5, 0.3%), and returning to the operating room ( n  = 4, 0.3%). The 30-day readmission rate was 1.3%. On multivariate analysis, hypertension requiring anti-hypertensive medication (odds ratio OR, 3.5; 95% confidence interval CI, 1.4–8.7) and chronic corticosteroid or immunosuppressant use (OR 7.2; 95% CI 1.9–26.7) were identified as independent risk factors for readmission. There was no difference in complication rates when hip arthroscopy was performed with isolated femoroplasty ( n  = 340), isolated acetabuloplasty ( n  = 103), both ( n  = 187) or neither ( n  = 863). Conclusion These findings confirm that the 30-day readmission (1.3%) and complication rate (1.7%) are low for isolated hip arthroscopy procedures; however, hypertension and chronic steroid use are independent risk factors for readmission. Level of evidence Retrospective comparative study, Level III.