The price you see and the price you do not
The filing fee is like the ticket price at the door. It is honest, it is easy to read, and it is almost never your main expense. For a company with a foreign owner, costs live in three layers: the one-time registration, the yearly upkeep, and — the most expensive layer — the cost of trouble when the structure is chosen for the wrong job.
The cheapest state to form an LLC for non-residents is almost always judged on the first layer and almost never on the second and third. Yet that is exactly where the two- and three-year cost is decided. So let us start with an honest table, then look at what the table does not show.
Where the filing fee is genuinely low
If you look only at registration, the picture across popular states is roughly this. The numbers are rounded and given as a guide — states change them from time to time, and you should always confirm the current amount on the Secretary of State site before filing.
| State | Formation | Yearly (annual report) |
|---|---|---|
| Montana | ≈ $35 | ≈ $20 a year |
| New Mexico | ≈ $50 | none |
| Missouri | ≈ $50 | none |
| Arizona | ≈ $50 | none |
| Ohio | ≈ $99 | none |
| Wyoming | ≈ $100 | from $60 a year |
| Delaware | ≈ $90 | $300 a year (franchise tax) |
| Florida | ≈ $125 | ≈ $139 a year |
Notice the gap between the two columns. On entry, Montana is cheapest but charges a small yearly report. Meanwhile New Mexico, Missouri, Arizona and Ohio are more interesting over time: at the state level they charge no annual report and no yearly fee. You pay once for registration, and the state never asks again.
That is why, on a three-year cost of ownership, the cheapest is usually not the one with the lowest entry but the one with no yearly payment. New Mexico over three years is roughly $50 and nothing on top. Wyoming over the same three years is a hundred up front plus at least $180 in reports. Delaware is close to $1,000 because of the franchise tax. The difference is no longer the filing fee — it is what the state takes every year.
The registered agent — a cost no state removes
Now the first thing missing from the table but always present. In every US state a company needs a registered agent — a person or service with a physical address in that state to receive official mail and notices. A non-resident cannot be their own agent by definition: they have no address in the state of formation.
So to any row in the table you should honestly add an agent — usually around $50–150 a year. And that is where the seemingly free New Mexico turns into a company that still costs money every year. You just pay the agent instead of the state. I went through what a registered agent actually does and why the cheapest one at $40 often costs more — same logic: saving on a line that breaks everything else.
The short version on money: the real yearly cost of an LLC is not the "annual report" line but the sum of "annual report + registered agent + account upkeep." The filing fee is paid once and affects the overall picture least of all.
Why "no state tax" often changes nothing for a non-resident
The second myth people build a state choice on is tax. "I will take Wyoming, there is no state tax." It sounds logical, but for a typical non-resident it is usually a neutral trait, not a benefit.
The reason is simple. Federal obligations do not depend on the state at all. A company with a foreign owner gets an EIN and files Form 5472 together with a pro forma 1120 the same way — in Florida, in New Mexico, in Delaware. The state does not remove or reduce that work.
And state tax arises not from where you are registered but from where your income and presence are. If a non-resident sells online with no office, warehouse or staff in the US, they usually have no income tied to a specific state — so Wyoming's "zero rate" saves them nothing, because there would be nothing to pay in another state either. I covered that line in more detail in the piece on whether you can avoid US taxes while living abroad.
A cheap state where the account is hard to open
This one is not theory but the most common pain in practice. Some "cheap" states — New Mexico first of all — are popular partly because they offer anonymity: the owner's name does not appear in the public record. For privacy that is a plus. For a bank it is a minus.
When the owner is not visible in the state filing, the bank makes up for it itself: it asks for an operating agreement, a banking resolution, a clear explanation of who the ultimate beneficial owner is. For a non-resident, who already goes through enhanced checks, that is an extra barrier. I regularly see someone take New Mexico for the price and the anonymity, then spend weeks unable to open a US business account because the bank is missing papers no one asked for in advance.
The paradox: the cheapest state by filing fee turns out to be the most expensive in time and nerves at the banking stage. And a company with no working account is not saved $50 — it is a frozen business.
When a cheap state suddenly needs a second registration
There is one more trap that hits e-commerce and Amazon sellers. The state of formation is one thing; the state where the company actually has presence is another. If your goods sit in an Amazon warehouse in Texas or California, that creates nexus there — a tax connection. And then a "cheap" registration in New Mexico does not remove obligations in the state where the goods physically are.
So you can save at the door and gain the need to deal with a second state — foreign registration, sales tax, filings. On how presence in several states changes the picture there is a separate breakdown of nexus, and on the Amazon specifics a piece on FBA and seller economics. The point here is one thing: for physical goods, "where is it cheapest to register" is not the question to start with at all.
Nexus is the question to settle before you register, not after. It is tax presence, not the name of the state, that decides where the company actually owes tax and filings. The mistake does not show up at once: the business runs fine for a year, then a bill and penalties arrive from several states at the same time. So before you compare filing fees, read the breakdown of nexus and presence in several states — this question saves far more than any difference in registration price.
Not sure which state is cheaper for your business?
On a consultation we go through your model: online or physical goods, where the customers and the warehouse will be, whether you need a bank and which one. And we count not the filing fee but the real cost of ownership over a couple of years. If we decide to register — we open the LLC and EIN end to end for your exact scenario.
So which state is cheapest — honestly
Put it all together and the answer is duller than you would like, but it is honest. On pure cost of ownership for a non-resident with no US presence, the winner is usually "low filing fee + no annual report": New Mexico, Missouri, Ohio. Plus the mandatory registered agent on top — and that is your real yearly upkeep budget.
But cheap has a character. New Mexico is cheap and anonymous, yet you pay for the anonymity with friction at the bank. Wyoming is $60 a year more, but banks accept it more easily and everyone understands it. Montana is cheap on entry but charges a yearly report. Delaware is expensive to maintain and mostly justified when you are going in for investment and a C-Corp, not for savings.
So the cheapest state is not one line in a ranking. It is your profile: online or with goods, whether anonymity matters, which bank you need, whether you will have presence in a particular state. How to choose along those axes I laid out in the big guide — how to choose a state to register a company in the US.
How we solve this with a client
When someone comes in asking "where is it cheaper," we do not answer with a state name on the spot. First we find out what the business is: online services, SaaS, dropshipping, physical goods on Amazon. Then where the customers are and where the goods will be stored. Then whether a bank is needed right now and which one. Only after that does the state almost choose itself.
Half the time it turns out the client was about to overpay for a "prestigious" Delaware where New Mexico or Wyoming would have been enough. The other half, a cheap state from some article online would have walked them into a dead end at the bank or on nexus. I look at this both as a CPA and as the person who later handles these companies' filings: a structure that is cheap at the start but inconvenient almost always costs more to service than the right one from day one.
We do not sell a "scheme" and we do not promise to get around the rules. The opposite: for an owner from the CIS, who is already under enhanced checks, a clean and clear structure is worth more than any saving on a filing fee. The cheapest state to form an LLC for a non-resident is the one that will not create an expensive problem in six months. Sometimes it really is $50. Sometimes it is smarter to pay a bit more and sleep well.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest state to form an LLC for a non-resident?
By filing fee, Montana (around $35), then New Mexico, Missouri and Arizona (around $50). By cost of ownership, the states with no annual report win: New Mexico, Missouri, Ohio, Arizona. Add the mandatory registered agent to any option.
Which states have no LLC annual report?
At the state level, New Mexico, Missouri, Ohio and Arizona charge no annual report or yearly fee. Wyoming charges from $60 a year, Montana about $20, Delaware $300. Confirm exact amounts on the Secretary of State site.
Does a cheap state lower a non-resident's taxes?
Usually not. An EIN and Form 5472 are filed the same in every state, and state tax only arises on income tied to a state. For a non-resident with no US presence, the state choice barely affects taxes.
Is New Mexico cheaper for an LLC if I do not live in the US?
By filing fee, yes — it is one of the cheapest options, and it has no annual report. But New Mexico anonymity makes opening an account harder, and a registered agent is still required every year. So the cheapest state should be chosen for the specific business, not on the filing fee alone.