LLC Cost Calculator: Year One and Every Year After
Pick your state and see the real totals: the filing fee, the state charges that land in year one, and what the LLC costs to keep alive every year after. Every figure comes from an official state source, checked November 8, 2026.
Calculate your LLC's state costs
Covers all fifty states, each one verified against its official sources the same way.
How to read these numbers
Year one is not the filing fee. California files for $70 and still bills $890 in year one, because its $800 annual tax and first Statement of Information land immediately. Texas charges $300 to file and then nothing for years. The calculator exists because the sticker price and the real price are different numbers in almost every state.
Year two onward is the commitment. That column is what the state charges you for existing, before rent, software, or a single customer. If a state's recurring total bothers you, it is worth knowing before you form there, not after. Our state cost pages show the same numbers with the reasoning and the sources.
What is not in here: your local business license (city and county level), taxes on actual income (state income and franchise taxes are noted per state where they are flat; income-based ones are explained on the state pages), and optional services beyond the registered agent option above. An EIN is always $0. If any tool or service tells you otherwise, close the tab.
Coverage honesty
This calculator covers Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming: all fifty states, because every state's fees have now been verified line by line against official sources as of November 8, 2026. Fifty states with numbers we can defend, not fifty states with numbers we copied. The District of Columbia and the U.S. territories are not in yet, because their fees have not had the same check. Spotted a number that no longer matches? Email [email protected]; reader reports start the recheck.
One honesty note about the averaged lines
Several states bill every two years instead of every year, and the calculator averages those charges so the per-year column stays comparable: Indiana's $31 report shows as $15.50 a year, California's $20 Statement of Information as $10 a year, New York's $9 Biennial Statement as $4.50 a year, Iowa's $30 biennial report as $15 a year, Kansas's $90 biennial information report as $45 a year, and Nebraska's $25 biennial report as $12.50 a year (the statutory figure; a Secretary of State news release says $28 online, a split the Nebraska entry below discloses). Alaska's $100 biennial report shows as $50 a year the same way. In cash terms you pay the full amount in the due year and nothing in the off year. Indiana's report lands in your anniversary month every second year; California's Statement lands in your biennial filing window; New York's statement is due in your formation month every second year; Iowa's and Nebraska's reports land in the January 1 to April 1 window of odd-numbered years; Kansas's lands on April 15 of your formation-parity year; Alaska's lands before January 2 of the year whose parity matches your formation year. Budget for the lumpy version, not the average.
Common questions
Why does my state's calculator total differ from a round filing fee I saw advertised?
Because advertised numbers usually show only the filing fee. The calculator adds the state charges that land in year one, like California's $800 tax and $20 Statement of Information, which is how a $70 filing becomes an $890 first year. Services advertising "$0 formation" are describing their own fee, not the state's.
Does the calculator include a formation service's charges?
Only the optional registered agent line, at Northwest's $125 a year when you tick the box. Other providers charge $149 to $249 a year for the same service, priced on the comparison page. Filing fees a service charges for doing the paperwork are separate again, and our formation guide shows the do-it-yourself path that avoids them.
What will five years cost in my state?
Add the year-one total to four times the per-year figure. California is the dramatic case: $890 plus four years at roughly $800 to $820 comes to about $4,130 in state charges over five years. Texas is the opposite: $300 once, then $0 a year for most LLCs. Each state cost page shows its own five-year picture with the reasoning.
What about Washington, DC, or a U.S. territory?
The calculator covers the fifty states. The District of Columbia and the territories run their own filing systems, and their fees have not had our official-source check yet, so they are not in the calculator rather than in it with copied numbers. The eight steps in our formation guide still describe the process; read the fee itself on the official filing site for the jurisdiction.
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.