Methodology and data sources

Where the numbers come from

Every state's formation fee, recurring fee and due date was read from that state's own government pages (Secretary of State, Department of Revenue or equivalent) or from the state statute, on October 28–29, 2026. The pages we used are linked at the bottom of each state page. We first took figures from the third-party table at llcformationcost.com and then checked each against the official source; where they differed we used the official figure (Delaware, Vermont, Washington, Utah, Kansas, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska, South Dakota, Hawaii, Alabama, North Carolina and Louisiana were among the corrections), so we do not treat third-party tables as authoritative.

Limits. Where a state charges a different amount online and on paper we show the online fee. Tennessee's formation and annual report fees scale with the number of members (we show the $300 minimum). Alabama, Nevada, Washington and others have separate license or tax systems; the page for each state says what is and is not included. State pages show the date each state was last verified. Fees can change at any time, so confirm before filing.

Calculations

Formation fee is the state filing fee for articles of organization / certificate of formation. Recurring filing / report fee is the annual report or license fee paid to the filing office; for states that require reports every two years we divide the filing fee by two. State tax / mandatory annual charge is a separate annual tax or charge that a state collects from a small single-member LLC just for existing, even with little or no income (for example California's $800, Delaware's $400, Kentucky's $175, Rhode Island's $400, Tennessee's $100 and New York's $25). Extra due in year one is a one-time cost in the first year (for example Alabama's name reservation). Year-one cost = formation + year-one extra + the first year's state tax. Annual upkeep = recurring filing / report fee + state tax. Estimated 5-year state costs = formation + year-one extra + 4 × recurring filing / report fee + 5 × state tax. Rankings sort states by that number. It excludes registered agent fees, formation-service fees, newspaper publication (New York), local licenses and income-based state taxes (income, gross-receipts, B&O and sales taxes).

Who the state tax figures apply to

We price a typical single-member LLC owned by an individual, treated as a disregarded entity for federal tax, with little or no income. A state tax counts only when it is owed regardless of income. The tax for the formation year is counted in year one even when it is paid with a return the following spring, so the five-year figure covers five tax years. Where a charge depends on income, the number of members or an election (for example Vermont's $250 for partnership or S-corporation LLCs, New York's fee, which applies only with New York-source income, and Washington's business license), the state page explains the condition in plain words, and conditional charges are not added to the totals unless they apply to the typical LLC. A state page lists the tax only where we confirmed it on an official Department of Revenue, Secretary of State or statute page; we researched the states known for entity-level charges and a broad set of others, but not every state's tax code in depth, so a missing tax line means we did not find one for this baseline LLC, not a guarantee that none exists. Confirm with the state before you file.

Updates

Fees change, sometimes at the start of a fiscal year or after a law passes (for example, Louisiana's fee increase on October 1, 2026). Last built October 29, 2026. If you spot an error, tell us.

What we do not do

We do not give legal or tax advice, and we do not rank states by the quality of their LLC laws.