What do you file in your state?
Pick a state and see the office, the document, the fee, the name search, the registered agent rule and the annual report. Every figure came from that state's own pages and links back to them, because these change and the source is the only thing worth trusting on the day you file.
North Carolina has a longer version with the order to do things in, what each step costs and the official pages: starting a business in North Carolina.
Still deciding what to start? Twenty businesses compared on startup cost, margin and whether demand is growing, each with the filings that business tends to need.
Questions people ask
What do I need to file to start an LLC?
In every state it is one formation document filed with the office that keeps the business register, usually the Secretary of State. The document has different names in different places: Articles of Organization in most, Certificate of Formation or Certificate of Organization elsewhere. This page gives the name, the fee and a link to the filing page for whichever state you pick.
How much does it cost to form an LLC?
It ranges widely between states, and the formation fee is rarely the whole cost, because most states also charge for a periodic report. Both figures are on this page for each state, taken from that state's own published schedule.
Do I need a registered agent?
Almost everywhere, yes, though the rules differ: some states require the agent to live in the state, some allow the company to act for itself, and a couple record a registered office instead of an agent. The rule for each state is on this page.
How current are these figures?
Each state's record carries the date it was checked and a link to the government page it was read from. Fees and deadlines change, so the source link is the thing to trust at the moment you file, not the number on this page.