LLC Fees by State (2026)

Forming an LLC costs from $35 in Montana to $500 in Massachusetts. The bigger difference is the cost of keeping it: 11 states charge nothing each year for a small LLC, while California charges at least $800.

The table shows each state's filing fee and its recurring fee for a small single-member LLC, with biennial fees halved to an annual figure. The five-year total is the filing fee plus five years of recurring fees. It excludes registered agent fees, publication costs, business licenses and income tax, which are covered in each state guide.

• Publication. New York requires LLCs to publish a notice in two newspapers for six weeks, which can cost $1,000 or more in New York City. Nebraska and Arizona have smaller publication requirements, and Arizona waives its requirement for LLCs based in Maricopa and Pima counties.
• Entity-level taxes. California adds an LLC fee from $900 once gross receipts pass $250,000, rising to $11,790 above $5 million. Tennessee charges LLCs its excise and franchise taxes, and Texas its franchise tax once revenue passes $2.65 million.
• Registered agent. Every LLC needs an agent with an address in the state. You can act as your own in your home state, but an LLC formed elsewhere usually pays a commercial agent $50 to $300 a year.
• Business licenses. Nevada requires a $200 state business license each year, which is included above. Washington, many cities and some counties require their own licenses.
• Foreign registration. An LLC doing business in a second state must register there too, paying that state's fees every year.

Wyoming, Delaware and Nevada are often marketed as the best states to form an LLC. For an owner who lives and works elsewhere, forming there usually adds cost: the LLC must still register as a foreign LLC at home, pay the home state's fees and taxes, and pay a registered agent in the formation state.

A Florida resident who forms in Wyoming pays $100 to form, $60 a year in Wyoming and around $125 a year for a Wyoming agent, plus $125 to register in Florida and $138.75 a year there. Over five years that is about $1,843.75, compared with $818.75 for a Florida LLC. Out-of-state formation makes sense mainly for holding companies, businesses with no home-state operations or owners who need a specific state's laws.

For venture-backed startups the question is different: investors usually expect a Delaware C corporation, not an LLC. See state corporate tax rates for how corporations are taxed.