LLC cost by state, 2026

The number that matters is not the filing fee

Almost every comparison ranks states by formation fee. That is the one-off cost, and it is the smaller half of the decision. 8 states charge no annual report fee at all; others charge more every year than they did to form the company.

California is the clearest example. Filing costs $70 — among the cheapest in the country — and then every LLC owes an $800 minimum franchise tax annually whether or not it made a penny. Over five years that is $4,070, against $50 in Arizona. The table below shows both, so you can see which states are cheap to enter and which are cheap to keep.

Every state, sorted by first-year cost

Five-year figure is the filing fee plus five annual reports. A few states file biennially rather than annually, which makes their real five-year cost lower than shown — check your Secretary of State before budgeting to the dollar.

What you are told you need, and what you actually need

The one thing worth paying for is a registered agent service, and only for a specific reason: a registered agent's address is public record, so using your own puts your home address in a searchable state database. If you work from home, that is worth $100 a year to avoid.

Forming in Delaware or Wyoming when you live elsewhere

This advice circulates constantly and is wrong for almost every freelancer. If you live and work in your own state, an LLC formed elsewhere has to register in your state as a foreign LLC before it can legally do business there.

That means two filing fees, two annual reports, and a paid registered agent in the formation state because you have no address there — so the “cheap” Wyoming LLC costs more than simply forming at home. Delaware's genuine advantages are its Court of Chancery and its familiarity to venture investors. Neither applies to a one-person consultancy.

An LLC does not change your tax bill

Worth stating because the formation services imply otherwise. A single-member LLC is a disregarded entity: the IRS taxes it exactly as a sole proprietorship, you still file Schedule C, and every dollar of profit is still subject to the 15.3% self-employment tax. What an LLC gives you is liability separation and a business name. The tax change comes from electing S-corporation status, which is a different decision with its own costs.

Model an S-corp election on your own numbers → · What each state costs in income tax →

Frequently asked questions