LLC costs by state: the first three years

The table ranks all 51 by the lower figure, which is what the state takes from an LLC formed in its cheapest month. States that cost the same share a rank, which is why ranks 1 to 10 hold 12 states. The middle of the list is left out, apart from Wyoming at 24th.

Arizona can also require a newspaper notice, which the newspaper prices and these figures leave out. Every state, with years one, two and three, is in LLC fees by state, which also downloads as a CSV.

In 22 states, the month you form in decides how many charges land in three years.

Delaware shows how it works. Its $400 LLC tax is due on 1 June each year, starting the year after you form. Form by 1 June and the state takes $910 over three years. Form after 1 June and the first tax falls inside your first twelve months, so it takes $1,310. Over five years, the two figures are $1,710 and $2,110. Wyoming's report is due on the first day of the month you formed in, so its $222.40 is the same whatever the month.

The largest difference is California's, $800. Its $800 tax is due by the 15th day of the fourth month after you file, and then by the 15th day of the fourth month of each tax year, which is 15 April for most companies.

The calendar counts an LLC as formed on the first day of its month, and each condition gives the exact day. The dates in California, Tennessee and Vermont hold for a company whose tax year is the calendar year. Iowa and Nebraska take reports in odd-numbered years only, so the higher figure there needs a formation in an even year.

Each figure is what the state charges a single-owner LLC with no office, staff or property in the state, at today's regular fees for filing online. A state charges the same fees whoever owns the LLC, so a founder abroad pays what a local owner pays.

Year one starts on the day you form. The calendar tries a formation in every month of 2026 and 2027. The lower figure is the cheapest month and the higher one the dearest.

• Counted: the filing fee, and a second state fee paid once at the start in Alabama, Nebraska, New York and West Virginia.
• Counted: every report, fee or tax the state charges to keep the LLC, on the day it falls due.
• Counted: yearly charges owed with or without income. That's the minimum tax in Kentucky, Rhode Island and Tennessee, the business licence in Alaska, and the annual tax in California, which starts in the first year.
• Not counted: a registered agent. A founder abroad pays a provider for an address in the state, so it's the provider's cost, not the state's. What a US company costs in year one adds it up.
• Not counted: fees of ours or any provider's, late fees, or taxes that rise with income.
• Not counted: a newspaper notice, which Arizona, Nebraska and New York can require. The newspaper sets the price.
• Not counted: Wyoming's card fee on its annual report. Filed online, the report also carries the card processor's fee. At formation that is 2.4% (minimum $1), already inside the $102.40.
• Not counted: anything federal. A single-owner LLC owned from abroad files Form 5472 every year. There's no fee, and missing it costs $25,000.

Some rows will move. Michigan's law sets $15 instead of $25 for statements paid after 30 September 2027. Montana has waived its report fee for reports filed on time through 2027. Utah's change to when reports fall due took effect on 1 October 2026, and South Dakota's starts on 1 January 2027. Tennessee charges by the member, so a single-owner LLC pays its minimum. Each row uses today's regular fee and date, and each state's page has the detail.

BaseAcross files LLCs in Wyoming and Delaware only, so read this part knowing that. Over three years, 23 states cost less than Wyoming, and the cheapest saves $172.40 against it.

Of the 4 cheapest, Arizona and Mississippi put members or managers on the public record, and Arizona can require a newspaper notice. Missouri and New Mexico ask for no list of members and have no annual report.

Wyoming has no state income tax, asks for no list of members when you form or in its yearly report, and an LLC filed online is active at once. The best state for a non-resident's LLC compares it with New Mexico and Nevada, and explains why we recommend it to most founders abroad.

Delaware costs $910, or $1,310 if formed after 1 June over three years. It's worth that when a client, partner or investor asks for a Delaware LLC by name, or when you plan to convert to a Delaware corporation later. If you'll raise from US investors, they buy shares, so form a Delaware C-Corporation rather than an LLC. Wyoming or Delaware sets out the choice.

The figures are free to reuse under CC BY 4.0, with a link to LLC fees by state. That table lists every state's filing office and the day its figures were checked, between 16 and 17 October 2026. If a state changes a fee, the table, this page and the state's own page change together.