How Much Does It Cost to Start an LLC in 2026? Every State's Fees

The three parts of the cost

Every "how much does an LLC cost" answer you find online is three numbers stacked on top of each other, and a site that quotes one number is usually quoting the one that makes it look good. Separated, they are easy to compare.

Only the first two are set by the state. The third is a decision, and you can make it either way. The rest of this guide gives the state numbers for all 51 jurisdictions and then says plainly what we charge, so you can compare.

Eight states worked out

Florida, Texas and Georgia are the three our formation page quotes first. California and New York are the two large states people compare them against. Delaware, Wyoming and New Mexico come up whenever someone has read that forming out of state is cheaper.

Wyoming and New Mexico look inexpensive, and they are, as long as you also live and do business there. If you do not, your home state will usually want the LLC registered there as a foreign LLC too, and you pay a second filing fee, a second registered agent and a second yearly report. California runs the other way: $70 to file is the smallest number in the group, and the $800 a year to the Franchise Tax Board is the largest, owed in year one, within four months of filing.

All 50 states and DC

The filing fee is what the state charges for Articles of Organization. The yearly column is the recurring state cost for a domestic LLC: an annual report, a franchise tax, or nothing. The last column is the filing fee plus our $123.75 filing service, before card processing, which the checkout shows separately. Every state name links to that state's annual report page, where the due date, the late penalty and the official filing link are spelled out.

Scroll inside the table to see all 51, or type a state above. On a phone, swipe sideways for every column.

The yearly cost, explained

The yearly line is where states differ most. It comes in four shapes.

A flat annual report fee

Most states. Florida's annual report is $138.75, due May 1 on Sunbiz, and the late fee is $400, which is why a $138.75 bill so often becomes $538.75. Georgia's annual registration is $60 by April 1. Illinois charges $75 before the first of your anniversary month, North Carolina $200 by April 15. Massachusetts is the high end of this group at $500 a year.

A tax rather than a report

California charges every LLC $800 a year through the Franchise Tax Board (Form 3522), whether or not the company earned anything, and the first payment is due by the 15th day of the fourth month after you file. Delaware has no annual report for LLCs, only a flat annual tax, due June 1. Texas has a franchise tax, but an LLC under the revenue threshold ($2.65 million for 2026 and 2027 reports) owes $0 and files only the Public Information Report by May 15. Missing that report still forfeits the entity.

Every two years instead of every year

New York's biennial statement is $9 in your anniversary month, every other year, starting two years after you filed. Indiana ($32), Iowa ($30), Nebraska ($25), Kansas ($90), Alaska ($100) and DC ($300) also file every two years. The table shows the per-filing fee; halve it for a per-year comparison.

Nothing

Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio, Missouri and South Carolina have no annual report and no annual fee for LLCs. Alabama dropped the return for LLCs whose business privilege tax would be $100 or less, which covers most small ones. Idaho, Minnesota and Mississippi still want a report every year but charge nothing for it on time, and Montana has been waiving its fee season by season.

If you want the exact date for your own company, the annual report deadline calculator works it out from your state and formation month and can send reminders at 60, 30 and 7 days.

Registered agent and filing service

Everything above is what the state collects. What follows is what you may pay someone else, and the honest version comes first: you do not have to pay anyone.

Doing it yourself

Every state lets you file Articles of Organization on its own website and pay the state fee directly. In every state except New York and Pennsylvania the form asks for a registered agent, and in most states you can name yourself, as long as you give a physical street address in the state (not a PO box) where someone can accept legal papers during business hours. That address goes on the public record. New York makes the Secretary of State every LLC's agent for service, so an agent there is optional; Pennsylvania asks for a registered office instead.

What a registered agent costs

Owners pay for an agent when they work from home and do not want that address public, when they travel, or when they form in a state they do not live in. Ours is provided through our partner Registered Agents Inc for $74.25 a year, and the renewal is the same $74.25. Some providers quote a low first year and a higher renewal; whatever you choose, read the renewal price before you compare. Our registered agent guide covers what the agent actually does and what happens if you have none.

What a filing service costs

We charge $123.75 plus the state fee to prepare and file the Articles, in any state, with the exact total shown before you pay. If you later want us to file the yearly state report, that is $120 plus the state fee; you can also file it yourself on the state site for the state fee alone, and the state pages linked in the table tell you where.

So for a Florida LLC, the three parts are $125 to the state, $138.75 a year from the second year, and, if you want them, $123.75 to have it filed and $74.25 a year for an agent. Georgia is $110, then $60 a year. Texas is $300 to file and $0 a year while you stay under the threshold, with a report to file each May.

Where the surprise bills come from

When an LLC ends up costing far more than the owner expected, it is usually one of four things.

• The late fee. Florida's $400 penalty on a $138.75 report is the clearest case, and reinstating a dissolved LLC costs more again. The report is due whether or not the business made money that year. Our guide to what a missed annual report costs walks through the sequence.
• California's first year. The $800 is owed about four months after you file, so a company formed in September pays it in January, before it has had a full quarter of trading.
• Forming in one state and working in another. The Wyoming or Delaware LLC still has to register at home, so the "cheap" state's fees come on top of the home state's, never instead of them. Our foreign qualification page explains what the second registration involves.
• Renewal pricing on services. A registered agent quoted for year one and repriced for year two is the usual example. Ask for the renewal price in writing, or pick a provider that publishes it.