How much does an LLC cost?

What is the average cost to form an LLC?

The average formation fee is $128 and the median is $100. The average is higher because a handful of states charge far more than the rest: Massachusetts at $500, Nevada at $425, and Tennessee and Texas at $300 each. Sixteen jurisdictions charge under $100. The median is the more useful number for estimating your own state's cost, because those four high fees pull the average up.

Which states charge nothing to keep an LLC open?

Eleven states charge no recurring fee to the Secretary of State, but only six of those eleven require nothing from you. The other five still require a report, attach a condition to the $0 fee, or both.

Check your own state against this table before assuming a "$0" headline means nothing is owed.

Which states charge a minimum tax on top of the report fee?

Twelve states bill a mandatory minimum tax through their revenue department, separately from the Secretary of State. This is why the minimum tax never appears on a filing-fee schedule. Whether you owe the minimum tax depends on how your LLC is taxed, so check the "Who owes it" column as well as the dollar figure.

The 12 states split evenly by who pays. Six of these states reach a plain one-person LLC with no elections filed: California, Rhode Island, Delaware, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Alaska. The other six apply only if you take on partners or elect corporate treatment. A solo freelancer in Vermont or New Mexico can ignore those six.⁴

Kentucky shows why the "Who owes it" column matters. Its Limited Liability Entity Tax is levied, in the state's own words, on every business protected from liability by the laws of the state, and it explicitly does not reach sole proprietorships or general partnerships. If you register an LLC in Kentucky, you'll owe a $175 annual tax that you didn't owe as a sole proprietor.

Rhode Island works the same way. Single-member LLCs file Form RI-1065 and owe an annual charge equal to the corporate minimum tax, currently $400, while general partnerships are expressly excepted. Illinois also taxes LLCs on top of the report fee, though with a rate rather than a flat minimum: LLCs owe a 1.5% personal property replacement tax on net income on top of the $75 report.

Check your state's revenue department, not just the Secretary of State. Two agencies bill you, and only one of them shows up in a fee table.

What happens if you file the annual report late?

A late report triggers a penalty first and administrative dissolution later. Dissolution ends the liability protection you formed the LLC to get. In Florida, if you miss the May 1 deadline, the state adds a flat $400 that it will not waive, turning a $138.75 obligation into $538.75.

Reinstating a dissolved LLC costs money. Expect back fees plus a reinstatement charge somewhere between $100 and $500. A bank or a client may also ask about the gap in your good standing.

Which states make you publish a notice in a newspaper?

Three states still require newspaper publication after you form: New York, Arizona, and Nebraska. New York is the expensive one by a wide margin.

Under LLC Law § 206, a New York LLC has to run a notice in two newspapers chosen by the county clerk, once a week for six consecutive weeks, then file a $50 Certificate of Publication.⁵ The $50 state fee is the small part. You can't know in advance what the newspapers will charge. New York does not set or cap legal publication rates. Judiciary Law § 91 only requires a paper to file a statement of its charges with the court to qualify for designation. Each paper prices its own notices, and no state agency publishes a schedule.

This is why the commonly quoted $500 to $1,200 range for Manhattan is an estimate, not an official figure. The cost also varies widely by county. Before you budget, call the county clerk to find your designated newspapers, then ask each newspaper for its rate.

Arizona requires three consecutive publications under A.R.S. § 29-3201, with an automatic exemption if your statutory agent's address is in Maricopa or Pima county. In those two counties the Corporation Commission posts the notice on its own site for free. Those two counties cover most of the state's population. Nebraska requires three successive weeks under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 21-193, plus a $25 filing to prove you published the notice.

Is it cheaper to form an LLC yourself or use a service?

Filing directly with your state is always cheaper in cash terms, because a service charges you for paperwork the state already lets you submit online. The forms are short and the states have gotten reasonably good at walking you through them.

A service usually includes a registered agent for the first year. If you work from home, a registered agent keeps your street address out of a searchable public database. The registered agent is the one line item here worth paying for. A comparison of the specific providers belongs on its own page.