Ranked by what it actually costs to keep one for five years, not just to file.
The honest answer: form your LLC in the state where you live and work. The states marketed as LLC havens only help if you operate there. If you run your business from somewhere else, that state makes you register as a foreign LLC anyway, so you pay twice for one business. Below is what each state costs if it is your home state.
Formation fees get all the attention, but they are paid once. What actually adds up is the annual report fee, so this ranks on the five-year total.
| # | State | To form | Each year | 5-year total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Arizona | $50 | None | $50 |
| 2 | Mississippi | $50 | No fee | $50 |
| 3 | Missouri | $50 | None | $50 |
| 4 | New Mexico | $50 | None | $50 |
| 5 | Ohio | $99 | None | $99 |
| 6 | Idaho | $100 | No fee | $100 |
| 7 | South Carolina | $110 | None | $110 |
| 8 | Kentucky | $40 | $15 | $115 |
| 9 | Hawaii | $50 | $15 | $125 |
| 10 | Iowa | $50 | $30 | $125 |
Five-year total is the formation fee plus the recurring fee over five years, halved for the states that file every two years. It excludes registered agent fees, which run about $100 to $300 a year if you do not act as your own.
Arizona, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina charge nothing after you form and do not ask for an annual report. If you are choosing between otherwise similar home states, that is worth real money and one less deadline to miss.
| # | State | To form | Each year | 5-year total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | California | $70 | $800 | $4,070 |
| 2 | Massachusetts | $500 | $500 | $3,000 |
| 3 | Nevada | $425 | $350 | $2,175 |
| 4 | Tennessee | $300 | $300 | $1,800 |
| 5 | Delaware | $110 | $300 | $1,610 |
| 6 | Maryland | $100 | $300 | $1,600 |
| 7 | North Carolina | $125 | $200 | $1,125 |
| 8 | Florida | $125 | $139 | $819 |
| 9 | Arkansas | $45 | $150 | $795 |
| 10 | Maine | $175 | $85 | $600 |
California tops this because of its $800 minimum franchise tax, charged every year whether the business earns anything or not. New York's fees look modest here, but the state also requires newspaper publication after forming, which in some downstate counties costs more than a thousand dollars on its own.
Search this topic and you will be told to form in Wyoming, Delaware or Nevada. Most of that advice is published by companies that sell formation services in those states.
Here is the problem. An LLC is registered where it is formed, but you have to be registered wherever you actually do business. Form in Wyoming while working from Ohio and Ohio requires you to register as a foreign LLC. Now you pay Wyoming's fees and Ohio's fees, keep two registered agents, and file two sets of reports, for one small business.
It also does not save you tax. A single-member LLC's profit is taxed where you live and work. The filing address does not move your income.
Those states genuinely suit businesses with outside investors, multi-state operations, or specific privacy needs. For a freelancer or a local business, forming at home is cheaper and simpler.
Fees, deadlines, and the steps, state by state.
See your state ›Montana has the lowest formation fee at $35, and several states charge $50. But formation is a one-time cost. Over five years the cheapest states to keep an LLC are the ones with no annual report fee at all: Arizona, Missouri, New Mexico, Ohio and South Carolina.
Only if you actually operate there, or you have outside investors who expect Delaware. If you run your business from another state, that state requires you to register as a foreign LLC anyway. You end up with two filings, two annual reports and two registered agents, which costs more than simply forming at home.
California, by a wide margin, because of the $800 minimum franchise tax charged every year whether or not the business earns anything. Over five years that is $4,000 on top of fees. Nevada and Massachusetts are the next most expensive.
Not on your business profit. A single-member LLC's profit is taxed where you live and work, not where the paperwork was filed. Forming in Wyoming does not move your income out of your home state's reach.
It ranges from nothing to $800 depending on the state, plus a registered agent if you hire one, usually $100 to $300. The five-year table on this page shows the real total for every state.