Cheapest state to form an LLC in 2026

Updated Oct 10, 2026

Short answer

Montana has the lowest LLC filing fee, $35. Over five years the lowest totals are $50, in Arizona, Mississippi, Missouri and New Mexico. Montana's five-year total is $115.

If the business runs in one state, forming in a cheaper state usually costs more. You still register at home as a foreign LLC, and you pay a registered agent where you formed. With a $99 agent, forming at home costs less over five years than forming in New Mexico, in every other state and in DC where the fees are complete.

Cheapest to file is not cheapest to keep

Year 1 is the calendar year you form the LLC. A later fee counts in the year it is due. These totals come from the same math as LLC cost by state. States at a $50 filing fee or less:

State	Filing fee	Five-year total
Montana	$35	$115
Kentucky	$40	$800
Arkansas	$45 online	$645
Arizona	$50	$50
Colorado	$50	$150
Iowa	$50	$110
Michigan	$50	$150
Mississippi	$50	$50
Missouri	$50 online	$50
New Mexico	$50	$50

Every complete five-year total of $115 or less:

State	Five-year total	What is in it
Arizona	$50	$50 to file, no yearly fee
Mississippi	$50	$50 to file, annual report required at $0
Missouri	$50	$50 online to file, no yearly fee
New Mexico	$50	$50 to file, no report fee in the data
Ohio	$99	$99 to file, no yearly fee
Idaho	$100	$100 online, report fee recorded as $0
Hawaii	$101	$51 to file, then $12.50 a year online
Iowa	$110	$50 to file plus two $30 online reports
South Carolina	$110	$110 to file, no yearly fee
Montana	$115	$35 to file plus a $20 report for four years

Montana waives the annual report fee for reports filed by April 15 (Montana Secretary of State fee page). While that waiver lasts, an on-time filer pays $35 over five years. The $115 counts the standard $20 fee.

Kentucky's $40 filing fee is a trap. The annual report is $15, and the limited liability entity tax minimum is $175 when gross receipts and gross profits are $3,000,000 or less. Both start the next year. Four years at $190, plus $40, is $800.

Arkansas is $45 online and $50 on paper. The franchise tax is $150 a year after formation, so five years is $645. A card payment adds $5, which that total leaves out.

Missouri's statute sets $45 for online articles. A $5 technology fee makes it $50. That $5 expires on December 31, 2026 unless the law is extended. Paper filing is $105.

Hawaii's $51 is a $50 filing fee plus a $1 archives fee. Four online reports at $12.50 add $50, so five years is $101. South Carolina's $110 is for an LLC that is not taxed as a corporation. Iowa's paper biennial report is $45, not $30. Michigan's $25 annual statement, and its $50 filing fee, come from pages that did not open on the last check. Ohio's $99 is from a fee schedule whose live site was down. Idaho's $0 report fee was not confirmed on a statute page that opened.

Arizona's March 2026 schedule lists articles at $50 for regular processing and $85 expedited. The $50 total uses the regular fee. If the statutory agent is outside Maricopa County and Pima County, the LLC must publish a notice. The Commission sets no price, so that cost is not in the $50. Mississippi still requires the $0 report, online, by April 15. New Mexico's $50 is the fee on a filed articles of organization. The statute page did not open when it was checked.

Why the home state usually wins

Forming in New Mexico does not cancel the state where you operate. You pay New Mexico's $50, your home state's foreign registration, your home state's later reports and taxes, and an agent in New Mexico. This site prices that agent at $99 for the first year. The published renewal is $159. The comparison below uses $99 every year, which is what Which state for my LLC? does.

On that assumption, home is cheaper over five years in every other state and in DC, except that New York and Nebraska are left out. Their newspaper cost is not confirmed, so their totals are incomplete.

Where you form	Texas five-year total	California five-year total
At home	$300	$4,130
New Mexico, and register at home	$1,295	$4,675
Wyoming, and register at home	$1,585	$4,965
Delaware, and register at home	$2,955	$6,335

Texas charges $300 to form and $750 to register a foreign LLC. Franchise tax is $0 at or below $2,650,000 of revenue for reports due in 2026 and 2027. The New Mexico path is $50 plus $750 plus $99 in year 1 ($899), then $99 for each of the next four years. Five years is $1,295, against $300 at home.

California charges $70 to file, $20 for the statement of information (within 90 days, then every two years) and $800 a year. The first-year break from that $800 ended after 2023. Five years at home is $4,130. Forming in New Mexico still leaves the $800 tax, the $20 statement and a $70 foreign registration. Five years is $4,675.

Wyoming is $100 to file and at least $60 a year ($340 over five years). Delaware is $110 to file and a $400 annual tax ($1,710 over five years). A 2026 law raised that tax from $300. Neither one is the cheap choice, at home or as a second state.

A free agent changes two results over five years. Alabama ties at $200. Nevada is $1,725 formed in New Mexico and $1,825 at home, because Nevada's own license and list fees are high and its foreign registration is $75. With the $99 agent, Nevada at home is cheaper again.

What the totals leave out

Totals are the formation filing, required reports, and flat taxes or minimums an LLC of this size owes the state. They leave out income tax, local licenses and a formation company's price. California adds another fee, starting at $900, when California income is over $250,000. That fee is not in the $4,130.

This is general information, not legal advice.

Sources

General information from official sources, not legal or tax advice.