How Much Does an LLC Cost? All 50 States, Totaled
Short answer: the state charges run from $35 in year one (Montana) to $890 (California), and the filing fee is rarely the number that matters. Below is every state totaled the same way: what you pay the state in year one, and what the state charges you every year after just to keep existing. State fees checked against official state sources, November 8, 2026.
The short answer, with the extremes
Filing fees run from $35 to $500. Montana charges the least to file, $35 for the Articles of Organization; Massachusetts charges the most, $500, and Texas is second at $300. Kentucky is second-cheapest at $40. If the filing fee were the whole story, picking a state would be a five-minute decision.
Year one runs from $35 to $890. Montana is cheapest on both measures: $35 in total state charges in year one, and $0 a year after that if the annual report is filed in the free January 1 to April 15 window. California is the most expensive first year in the country at $890, even though its filing fee is only $70, because its $800 annual LLC tax and its first Statement of Information land immediately. Nevada ($425), Rhode Island ($550), and Tennessee ($700) also stack mandatory charges on top of modest filing fees, and Massachusetts pairs its $500 filing fee with a $500 annual report, making it the most expensive state to keep alive year after year after California.
Recurring cost runs from $0 to about $810 a year. Eleven states charge a default LLC nothing recurring at the state level: Alabama, Arizona, Idaho, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico, Ohio, South Carolina, and Texas. At the other end, California's recurring state charges average about $810 a year, Massachusetts charges $500, and Rhode Island and Tennessee each charge $450 and $400. The spread between the cheapest and most expensive state over five years is the difference between $35 total and roughly $4,130 in state charges.
The practical lesson is the one our foreign qualification guide keeps repeating: these numbers describe the cost of forming in a state, not a reason to form there. An LLC formed in a cheap state where you do not operate still has to register in your home state and pay both states. Form where you operate, and use this table to know what your state will actually charge you.
The all-50 cost table
| State | Filing fee | Year one total | Recurring | What the recurring charge is |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alabama | $200 | $225 | $0/yr | Annual report: Alabama does not have one for LLCs |
| Alaska | $250 | $300 | $100/yr | Biennial report, $100 every two years (averaged); State business license renewal |
| Arizona | $50 | $50 | $0/yr | Annual report: Arizona does not have one |
| Arkansas | $45 | $45 | $150/yr | Annual Franchise Tax Report, due May 1 |
| California | $70 | $890 | $810/yr | Annual LLC tax; Statement of Information, $20 every two years (averaged) |
| Colorado | $50 | $50 | $25/yr | Periodic Report |
| Connecticut | $120 | $120 | $80/yr | Annual report, January 1 to March 31 |
| Delaware | $110 | $110 | $400/yr | Annual tax, due June 1 (no annual report) |
| Florida | $125 | $125 | $138.75/yr | Annual report, filed by May 1 |
| Georgia | $110 | $110 | $60/yr | Annual Registration, due January 1 to April 1 |
| Hawaii | $50 | $51 | $12.50/yr | Annual report, filed online |
| Idaho | $100 | $100 | $0/yr | Annual report, due by the last day of the anniversary month (No fee) |
| Illinois | $150 | $150 | $75/yr | Annual report (Form LLC 50.1) |
| Indiana | $95 | $95 | $15.50/yr | Business Entity Report, $31 every two years (averaged) |
| Iowa | $50 | $50 | $15/yr | Biennial report, $30 every two years (averaged) |
| Kansas | $85 | $85 | $45/yr | Biennial information report, $90 every two years (averaged) |
| Kentucky | $40 | $40 | $190/yr | Annual report, January 1 to June 30; Limited Liability Entity Tax minimum |
| Louisiana | $125 | $125 | $35/yr | Annual report, due on or before the anniversary of organization |
| Maine | $175 | $175 | $85/yr | Annual report, due June 1 |
| Maryland | $100 | $100 | $300/yr | Annual Report (Form 1), due April 15 |
| Massachusetts | $500 | $500 | $500/yr | Annual Report, due on or before your formation anniversary |
| Michigan | $50 | $50 | $25/yr | Annual statement, due February 15 |
| Minnesota | $155 | $155 | $0/yr | Annual Renewal, due December 31 |
| Mississippi | $50 | $50 | $0/yr | Annual Report, due April 15 |
| Missouri | $50 | $50 | $0/yr | Annual report: Missouri does not have one for LLCs |
| Montana | $35 | $35 | $0/yr | Annual report, fee waived when filed January 1 to April 15 |
| Nebraska | $100 | $125 | $12.50/yr | Biennial report, $25 every two years (averaged) |
| Nevada | $75 | $425 | $350/yr | Annual List; State Business License renewal |
| New Hampshire | $100 | $100 | $100/yr | Annual report, due January 1 to April 1 |
| New Jersey | $100 | $100 | $75/yr | Annual Report, due in your anniversary month |
| New Mexico | $50 | $50 | $0/yr | Annual report: New Mexico does not have one |
| New York | $200 | $250 | $4.50/yr | Biennial Statement, $9 every two years (averaged) |
| North Carolina | $125 | $125 | $200/yr | Annual Report, due April 15 |
| North Dakota | $135 | $135 | $50/yr | Annual report, delivered before November 16 each year (November 15 deadline) |
| Ohio | $99 | $99 | $0/yr | Annual report: Ohio does not have one |
| Oklahoma | $100 | $100 | $25/yr | Annual Certificate, due on the anniversary date |
| Oregon | $100 | $100 | $100/yr | Annual Report, due on the anniversary date of the original filing |
| Pennsylvania | $125 | $125 | $7/yr | Annual Report, filed January 1 to September 30 |
| Rhode Island | $150 | $550 | $450/yr | Annual report (Form 632), due February 1 to May 1; Annual charge (Section 7-16-67) |
| South Carolina | $110 | $110 | $0/yr | Annual report: South Carolina does not have one for LLCs |
| South Dakota | $150 | $150 | $55/yr | Annual report, due on the 1st day of the anniversary month |
| Tennessee | $300 | $700 | $400/yr | Annual Report, the minimum (due the first day of the 4th month after your fiscal year closes); Franchise tax minimum |
| Texas | $300 | $300 | $0/yr | Franchise tax under the $2.65M no-tax-due threshold |
| Utah | $59 | $59 | $18/yr | Annual Renewal (annual report), due the last day of the anniversary month |
| Vermont | $155 | $405 | $295/yr | Annual report, due within 3 months after the fiscal year end; Minimum business entity income tax, LLC taxed as a partnership (32 V.S.A. section 5921) |
| Virginia | $100 | $100 | $50/yr | Annual registration fee, due by the last day of the twelfth month after the formation month |
| Washington | $200 | $250 | $75/yr | Annual Report, due by the end of your anniversary month; Business License renewal processing fee |
| West Virginia | $100 | $130 | $25/yr | Annual report, Secretary of State |
| Wisconsin | $130 | $130 | $25/yr | Annual Report (Form 5), due in the calendar quarter of your formation anniversary |
| Wyoming | $100 | $100 | $60/yr | Annual Report License Tax, minimum (greater of $60 or $0.0002 of Wyoming assets) |
How these totals are built
- Year one is the formation filing plus every mandatory state charge that lands in the first year: California's annual tax and Statement of Information, Nevada's Initial List and State Business License, Rhode Island's $400 annual charge, Tennessee's first annual report and franchise tax minimum, Alaska's required state business license, and the others itemized on each state's cost page.
- Recurring is what the state charges a default LLC (no special tax election) every year after, with biennial charges averaged: Alaska's $100 report counts as $50 a year, Indiana's $31 report as $15.50, and so on. In cash terms you pay the full amount in the due year and nothing in the off year. Michigan's annual statement is $25 through September 30, 2027 and drops to $15 after that date.
- Channels: each state is priced at the standard filing channel headlined on its own cost page, online where the state offers online filing at the standard price. Where paper and online prices differ, the cost page shows both.
- Excluded: registered agent services (priced separately below), city and county licenses, publication charges set by newspapers (New York, Arizona, Nebraska), and every income-based tax, including California's income-tiered LLC fee, Illinois's Personal Property Replacement Tax, and Washington's B&O tax. Vermont is shown in its default case, an LLC taxed as a partnership; a disregarded single-member Vermont LLC totals $155 in year one and $45 a year.
- California timing break: for first tax years beginning in 2027 through 2029, California's first-year annual tax is $400 instead of $800, so year one is $490 in that window. The table uses the standard $800 figure; the California cost page shows the window math.
Want your own combination, with a commercial registered agent added or removed? The LLC cost calculator runs the same verified data with the agent line as an option. Wondering how long the state will take once you file? That is the processing times page, built only from times the states publish themselves.
The costs beyond the state
Registered agent: $0 to $249 a year. Naming yourself or another individual who meets your state's requirements costs nothing. A commercial agent on the providers we track runs $125 to $249 a year, and the renewal price, not the first-year teaser, is the number that repeats. Current first-year and renewal prices for all five tracked providers, checked on their own sites, are on the registered agent price tracker, and the trade-offs are in the registered agent guide.
EIN: $0, always. The IRS issues employer identification numbers free, online, in minutes. Any charge for one, from any service at any checkout, is a charge for a free government form. See EIN for an LLC.
Operating agreement: $0 if you write it. No state charges a filing fee for an operating agreement because you do not file it anywhere. Templates are bundled with some formation packages; a lawyer-drafted agreement costs professional fees and is worth considering for multi-owner LLCs. Our operating agreement guide covers what belongs in one.
Licenses and permits: local, and they vary too much to total honestly. A general business license is usually a city or county charge, professional licenses are state-level, and both depend on your industry. Our state guides flag the ones a new LLC most commonly hits; no national table can price them responsibly, so none is printed here.
A formation service, if you hire one: $0 to $299 plus renewals. Services charge for preparing the filing, supplying an agent, and sending reminders. Their real cost is in the renewals, which is why our services comparison ranks them on five-year cost: $539 to $1,245 for formation plus five years of agent service, state fees excluded because they are the same whoever files.
Common questions
What is the cheapest state to form an LLC in?
Montana, on state charges: $35 to file and $0 a year after if the annual report is filed in the free window. But cheapest to form is not cheapest to run a business in. If you operate in another state, that state will require a foreign registration with its own fees, and you will pay both states. The honest cheapest state is almost always the one you actually operate in.
What is the most expensive state for an LLC?
California in year one ($890) and over any longer horizon (about $810 a year recurring, roughly $4,130 over five years in state charges). Massachusetts has the highest filing fee ($500) and the highest annual report fee ($500). Rhode Island ($550 year one, $450 a year) and Tennessee ($700 year one, $400 a year at the minimums) are the next tier.
Is the state filing fee the whole cost of an LLC?
No. In most states it is close, but the states that stack mandatory first-year charges (California, Nevada, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Alaska, Nebraska) show why the year-one total is the honest number. After year one, the recurring column is the commitment: reports, annual taxes, and in a few states a real entity-level charge.
Why do other sites quote different totals for the same state?
Usually because they print only the filing fee, or because their figures are stale. Kansas cut its fees in May 2026, Louisiana raised its package fee in October 2026, Delaware's annual tax went from $300 to $400 in 2026, and Pennsylvania invented a $7 annual report in 2025. Every figure here names its official source and carries a checked date for exactly that reason.
General Information Only
LLCForming publishes general information about forming and running an LLC. It is not legal, tax, or accounting advice, and it does not create an attorney or advisor relationship. Rules vary by state and by your situation. For a decision that matters, talk to a licensed attorney or tax professional in your state.