LLC Cost by State in 2026: Filing Fees and Annual Fees for All 50 States
LLC cost by state runs from $35 in Montana to $500 in Massachusetts, and most states sit near $100. That is the number everyone quotes, and it is only half of what you pay. The cost of forming an LLC is a one-time filing fee paid to your state, plus a recurring state fee. That second fee returns every year or every two years for as long as the company exists.
Here is where the published numbers stop agreeing. Two states with the same filing fee can differ by more than $1,000 over five years. The reason is a mandatory tax that is not a filing fee. A different agency collects it, so it never appears on a Secretary of State fee schedule.
This page covers how LLC cost by state breaks into three buckets. Then comes the full table for all 50 states and DC. After that: the cheapest states to start in, and the cheapest to keep. Finally, the states that cost more than their fee schedule suggests, and the costs that are not the state's at all.
Key Takeaways
- Filing fees range from $35 in Montana to $500 in Massachusetts, and most states land close to $100.
- The filing fee is the smaller half of the decision, because the recurring state fee is what compounds.
- Some mandatory charges are taxes, not fees, so they never appear on a state fee schedule. California adds $800 a year, Delaware $300, Maryland $300.
- Cheapest to start and cheapest to keep are two different lists.
- In most cases the practical choice is the state you actually operate in, because forming elsewhere means paying two states.
How LLC Cost by State Actually Breaks Down
Three separate charges get bundled into one headline figure, and separating them makes everything else clearer.
Bucket one is the filing fee. You pay it once, to the Secretary of State, when you file the document that creates the company. Most states call it Articles of Organization, others a Certificate of Formation, and the name has nothing to do with the price. It is the number you see when you look at how to start an LLC.
Bucket two is the recurring state fee. Most states want an annual report, a biennial statement or an annual registration, and they charge for it. It runs from $7 a year in Pennsylvania, new as of 2025, to $500 in Massachusetts.
Bucket three is the one nobody tables. A handful of states require a tax or public notice that is mandatory for every LLC. The revenue department or a newspaper collects it, not the Secretary of State, so it appears on no fee schedule. Every LLC cost by state table online is built from the first two buckets, which is why those tables disagree by hundreds of dollars. The same three buckets apply to what an LLC costs overall.
LLC Cost by State: Filing Fees and Annual Fees for All 50 States and DC
The LLC cost by state figures below are the current state charges. They show what you pay once to file, what you pay on a repeating basis, and how often. Where online and paper filing cost different amounts, the figure shown is the one most filers pay.
Fees change mid-year. Kansas cut its formation fee from $160 to $85 in 2026 while many published tables still show the old number. Confirm the current amount with your own Secretary of State before you file. A jurisdiction marked with an asterisk carries a bucket-three charge, explained below.
| State | Filing Fee | Ongoing State Fee | How Often |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama * | $200 | $10 | Every year |
| Alaska * | $250 | $100 | Every 2 years |
| Arizona * | $50 | $0 | None |
| Arkansas | $45 | $150 | Every year |
| California * | $70 | $20 | Every 2 years |
| Colorado | $50 | $25 | Every year |
| Connecticut | $120 | $80 | Every year |
| Delaware * | $110 | $0 | None |
| District of Columbia | $99 | $300 | Every 2 years |
| Florida | $125 | $138.75 | Every year |
| Georgia | $100 | $50 | Every year |
| Hawaii * | $50 | $15 | Every year |
| Idaho | $100 | $0 (filing still required) | Every year |
| Illinois | $150 | $75 | Every year |
| Indiana | $95 | $32 | Every 2 years |
| Iowa | $50 | $30 | Every 2 years |
| Kansas | $85 | $100 | Every 2 years |
| Kentucky * | $40 | $15 | Every year |
| Louisiana | $75 | $25 | Every year |
| Maine | $175 | $85 | Every year |
| Maryland | $100 | $300 | Every year |
| Massachusetts | $500 | $500 | Every year |
| Michigan | $50 | $25 | Every year |
| Minnesota | $135 | $0 (filing still required) | Every year |
| Mississippi | $50 | $0 (filing still required) | Every year |
| Missouri | $50 | $0 | None |
| Montana | $35 | $20 | Every year |
| Nebraska | $100 | $25 | Every 2 years |
| Nevada * | $75 | $150 | Every year |
| New Hampshire | $100 | $100 | Every year |
| New Jersey | $125 | $75 | Every year |
| New Mexico | $50 | $0 | None |
| New York * | $200 | $9 | Every 2 years |
| North Carolina | $125 | $200 | Every year |
| North Dakota | $135 | $50 | Every year |
| Ohio | $99 | $0 | None |
| Oklahoma | $100 | $25 | Every year |
| Oregon | $100 | $100 | Every year |
| Pennsylvania | $125 | $7 | Every year |
| Rhode Island * | $150 | $50 | Every year |
| South Carolina | $110 | $0 | None |
| South Dakota | $150 | $55 | Every year |
| Tennessee * | $300 | $300 | Every year |
| Texas * | $300 | $0 | None |
| Utah | $59 | $18 | Every year |
| Vermont | $155 | $45 | Every year |
| Virginia | $100 | $50 | Every year |
| Washington | $200 | $70 | Every year |
| West Virginia | $100 | $25 | Every year |
| Wisconsin | $130 | $25 | Every year |
| Wyoming | $100 | $60 | Every year |
* Bucket-three charges: Alabama, business privilege tax (Department of Revenue). Alaska, state business license $50 a year. Arizona, one-time newspaper publication. California, $800 annual franchise tax. Delaware, $300 annual alternative entity tax. Hawaii, separate General Excise Tax license. Kentucky, minimum $175 limited liability entity tax. Nevada, $150 Initial List within 30 days plus a state business license. New York, newspaper publication within 120 days. Rhode Island, mandatory $400 minimum. Tennessee, $50 per member ($300 minimum, $3,000 maximum). Texas, annual franchise tax and Public Information Report instead of an annual report.
What Is the Cheapest State to Form an LLC?
Montana is the cheapest state to form an LLC on sticker price, at $35 to file. Cheapest to keep is a different list. Arizona, Missouri and New Mexico charge $50 to file and nothing ongoing, so $50 covers the whole five years. Montana still owes an annual report.
After Montana, the lowest filing fees are Kentucky at $40 and Arkansas at $45. A large group sits at $50: Arizona, Colorado, Hawaii, Iowa, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri and New Mexico. Utah sits just above them at $59.
The cheapest-to-keep list reshuffles all of that. Arkansas has the third-lowest filing fee in the country and one of the highest ongoing costs, because it charges a $150 annual franchise tax. Ohio charges $99 to file and then nothing at all, with no annual report required. Montana is a softer case. Its $20 annual report fee has been waived in recent years when the report is filed on time. There, the deadline matters more than the dollar. Once you look past year one, that changes how you read any LLC cost by state table.
One caveat is worth saying plainly. Forming in a cheap state you do not live or work in usually does not save money. You end up registering the company a second time where you actually operate. That means two filing fees, two recurring fees, and usually two registered agents.
Which States Cost More Than Their Filing Fee Suggests?
California, Delaware, Maryland and Texas all cost more than their fee schedules show. California charges $70 to file and then $800 in annual franchise tax. Delaware charges $110 and requires no annual report, but owes $300 a year in alternative entity tax. Maryland adds a mandatory $300 annual report.
| Jurisdiction | What the fee schedule shows | What is also mandatory |
|---|---|---|
| California | $70 to file, $20 every 2 years | $800 annual franchise tax |
| Delaware | $110 to file, no annual report | $300 annual alternative entity tax |
| Maryland | $100 to file | $300 annual report and personal property return |
| Texas | $300 to file, no annual report | Annual franchise tax and Public Information Report |
| Tennessee | $300 to file | $50 per member, $300 minimum, $3,000 maximum |
| Nevada | $75 to file | $150 initial list within 30 days, plus a state business license |
| New York | $200 to file, $9 every 2 years | Newspaper publication within 120 days |
| Arizona | $50 to file, no ongoing fee | One-time newspaper publication |
| Kentucky | $40 to file, $15 a year | Minimum $175 limited liability entity tax |
This is the bucket that makes published LLC cost by state tables disagree, and it is usually not carelessness. A franchise tax is collected by the revenue department, not the filing office. It is genuinely absent from the fee schedule the table was built from. California is the clearest case: $70 buys you the entity, and the $800 arrives whether or not the business earned anything.
Four patterns are worth checking before you commit. Is there a franchise, privilege or entity tax? A publication requirement, which New York and Arizona both have? An initial report due within days of formation, as Nevada requires? A separate state business license? Texas and Delaware both look inexpensive to maintain until one of those turns up.
LLC Annual Fees by State: What You Pay Every Year After Year One
Compare those recurring charges over five years and the ranking barely resembles the filing-fee ranking. Take the filing fee, add five annual payments or two biennial payments, and you get a number you can actually budget against.
On that math Massachusetts runs about $3,000 across five years, Tennessee about $1,800 and Maryland about $1,600. Missouri, New Mexico and Arizona come to $50 in total, because they charge nothing after you file. That spread is the LLC cost by state comparison that matters once the company is real.
Ten jurisdictions charge $0 ongoing. Three of them, Idaho, Minnesota and Mississippi, still require a filing every year even though the filing is free. Missing it can put the company out of good standing as fast as an unpaid fee would. Annual requirements work the same way everywhere: a deadline, a form, and a consequence for ignoring it.
What Else Do You Pay Beyond the State Fees?
Beyond state fees, budget for a registered agent, which is an annual subscription unless you serve as your own. Add a business license if your city or county requires one, plus tax preparation each year. Your EIN is free from the IRS, and no state charges you for an operating agreement.
The cost of registered agent for LLC service is the line item people forget, because it renews quietly. Most states let you be your own registered agent if you have a physical street address in the state and are available during business hours. That keeps the number at zero.
An EIN is free directly from the IRS, and anyone charging for one is charging for the typing.
The line that scales with you is accounting. The average cost of tax preparation for LLC returns is a genuine annual expense. It grows as the business does, and it appears on no state fee schedule.
Ready to file? Start your LLC with FormationHub and we will handle the state paperwork step by step. The only number you think about is the one in the table above.
Disclaimer: FormationHub is not a law firm or an accounting firm, and this article is general information, not legal or tax advice. Filing fees, processing times, and state requirements change. Confirm the current requirements with your state's filing office or the IRS before you file, and talk to a licensed attorney or CPA about your specific situation.
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