Mississippi LLC vs Missouri LLC (2026)
Written for owners based in Mississippi.
Verdict: for most owners, form where the business is based
This is the closest pair on the board: $50 to form online in either state, no annual report fee in either, and no entity-level tax on a default LLC either way. Two things still separate them. Missouri charges $105 to mail the paper LLC-1, more than double its own online price, while Mississippi's $50 is the same fee on both channels, and Missouri keeps members off the public filing where Mississippi does not. Neither buys much for a Mississippi owner, since a Missouri LLC trading here needs a $250 registration and a $250 foreign annual report.
Based in Missouri? Read Missouri LLC vs Mississippi LLC →
Compare Mississippi LLC vs Missouri LLC on filing fees, taxes, privacy laws, and annual costs. Find out which state is actually better for your business.
By Edmond Hui · Last updated: October 5, 2026
Using a formation service? We compare the 4 formation services that pay us a commission, on three-year service cost, BBB rating and Trustpilot score.
Compare LLC formation services →Or by state: Best LLC services in Mississippi, Best LLC services in Missouri
Ready to file? Our affiliate partner ZenBusiness files your LLC formation paperwork, from $0 + state fee.
Start your LLC with ZenBusiness →Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no cost to you. MyStateLLC is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
| Factor | Mississippi | Missouri |
|---|---|---|
| Filing Fee | $50 | $50 |
| Processing Time | Same day (online) | Usually instant (online) |
| Annual Report Fee | $0 | None |
| Annual Report Due | April 15 | None required |
| State Income Tax | Yes | Yes |
| Anonymous LLC | No | Yes |
| Publication Requirement | No | No |
| Foreign LLC Cost (if forming out-of-state) | N/A, you're in your home state | $250 + registered agent ~$150/yr |
Full fee breakdown for either state: Mississippi LLC cost and Missouri LLC cost. Owner privacy options for either state: Mississippi anonymous LLC guide and Missouri anonymous LLC guide.
Business Climate: Mississippi vs Missouri
| Factor | Mississippi | Missouri |
|---|---|---|
| 5-year business survival rate | 53.5% (#15 of 51) | 42.9% (#49 of 51) |
| Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months)) | +29.5% YoY (#32 of 51 by volume) | +24.6% YoY (#17 of 51 by volume) |
Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Employment Dynamics · U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics (BFS)
Compare LLC Costs: Mississippi vs Missouri
Mississippi
Missouri
A figure shown as "from" is the least the state can charge, not a price. Tennessee's report is $300 for up to six members and $50 for each member above six, its franchise tax is the greater of $100 or 0.25% of Tennessee net worth, Wyoming's report is the greater of $60 or $.0002 per dollar of in-state assets, Kentucky's entity tax is $175 up to $3 million of gross receipts and graduated above it, and New York's annual filing fee is graduated on New York source gross income. A total that contains one of those is shown as "from" for the same reason. Costs include every mandatory state charge: the filing fee, the report fee (annualised where a state files biennially), any state entity-level tax shown in its own row above, a one-time publication cost where the state publishes a rate for it, and any one-time registration charge a state requires before the LLC may trade. Two exclusions follow from that wording. Arizona and Nebraska require publication and publish no rate, so no newspaper cost is carried for either and their totals are not the whole cost. Alaska's $50 annual state business licence is a separate charge from the Secretary of State fees and is not carried here either. Annualising makes the 1, 3 and 5 year rows a cost of ownership rather than a payment schedule: a biennial state charges its whole report fee in the years it falls due and nothing in between. Entity-level taxes that only apply after a corporate election, or above an owner or income threshold, are excluded and flagged on the state's own cost page. New York's publication cost is carried at a $250 floor, roughly $200 of newspaper cost in a low-cost county plus the $50 Certificate of Publication fee. No county-clerk-designated New York City newspaper publishes a rate card, so the four-figure NYC estimates in wide circulation cannot be traced to a primary source and are not asserted here; budget for materially more than the floor if you file in a NYC county. Every fee was verified against the state's own fee schedule, statute, or revenue authority on 29 July 2026. Excludes registered agent and legal fees. For informational purposes only, not legal or tax advice.
Filing Fees & Formation Costs
Mississippi charges $50 to form an LLC, while Missouri charges $50. The upfront filing fees are identical. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in Missouri but operate in Mississippi, you must also register as a foreign LLC in Mississippi (a $250 filing) and maintain a registered agent in Missouri (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the Missouri route at roughly $450, versus $50 for simply forming in Mississippi. Both states publish a standard turnaround, Mississippi (same day, online) and Missouri (usually instant, online), though a published figure is a norm, not a guarantee.
Taxes: Mississippi vs Missouri
Both Mississippi and Missouri levy a personal income tax on pass-through business income, and your LLC's profits will be taxed where you live and operate. Forming in Missouri doesn't change what a Mississippi-based owner pays. Mississippi taxes individual income at a flat 4.0% on taxable income over $10,000 for tax year 2026 (down from 4.4% in 2025); the 2025 'Build Up Mississippi Act' schedules further phase-down toward eventual elimination, subject to revenue triggers. Missouri levies a graduated individual income tax with a top rate of 4.7% for 2026, confirmed by the Department of Revenue's 2026 withholding tax formula. No franchise or privilege tax on a default LLC (Mississippi's corporate franchise tax reaches an LLC only if it is taxed as a corporation, and none is levied for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2028); note the foreign LLC annual report carries a $250 fee while the domestic LLC annual report is $0.
Privacy & Asset Protection
Missouri allows anonymous LLC formation. Member and manager names don't appear on routine public filings. The Articles of Organization (Form LLC-1) require only the registered agent's and organizer(s)' names (organizers need not be members, managers, or owners) plus a member-managed/manager-managed checkbox with no names, and the Secretary of State's FAQ confirms LLCs file no annual report, so no routine public filing ever lists members or managers. Mississippi doesn't offer that same privacy. Mississippi's Certificate of Formation doesn't list members, but under Mississippi law the mandatory annual report requires the names and business addresses of managers (if manager-managed) or the name and address of at least one member (if member-managed), plus principal officers if any. Both states provide charging-order protection for LLC members, and for most small businesses the practical difference in asset protection between the two is minimal. One important caveat: if you register your Missouri LLC as a foreign LLC in Mississippi, that Mississippi registration is itself a public record, which can undercut much of the privacy benefit for a business that operates in Mississippi.
Annual Maintenance Costs
Mississippi LLCs file a free annual report (due April 15), and Missouri LLCs file no annual report at all. If you form in Missouri while operating in Mississippi, you maintain filings in both states, Missouri asks for no report, but Mississippi still wants its equivalent for your foreign registration, and pay a Missouri registered agent roughly $150 per year. Counting report fees, the agent and any entity-level tax, that brings the Missouri route to roughly $150 a year, versus about $0 to keep a domestic Mississippi LLC in good standing. The tax inside those totals: No franchise or privilege tax on a default LLC (Mississippi's corporate franchise tax reaches an LLC only if it is taxed as a corporation, and none is levied for tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2028); note the foreign LLC annual report carries a $250 fee while the domestic LLC annual report is $0.
When Missouri Actually Makes Sense
Forming in Missouri makes sense in a few specific situations: you need anonymous ownership. Mississippi puts owner or manager information on public filings and Missouri doesn't (usually via a holding company, since operating in Mississippi still requires a public foreign registration there), your business genuinely operates in Missouri, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to Missouri in the near future. For a typical small business based in Mississippi, none of these usually apply. Registering a Missouri LLC to do business back home means $250 in Mississippi foreign-registration fees, on top of Missouri's $50 formation fee, while Mississippi's own annual report stays free to file and is due April 15. When in doubt, form where you actually do business.
Frequently Asked Questions
Ready to form your LLC?
Using a formation service? We compare the 4 formation services that pay us a commission, on three-year service cost, BBB rating and Trustpilot score.
Compare LLC formation services →Or by state: Best LLC services in Mississippi, Best LLC services in Missouri
Our affiliate partner ZenBusiness files your LLC formation paperwork, from $0 + state fee.
Start your LLC with ZenBusiness →Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no cost to you. MyStateLLC is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.
More State Comparisons
Embed this comparison, free
Add the Mississippi vs Missouri cost calculator to any page. Works in WordPress, Squarespace, Webflow, and any HTML site.
<iframe src="https://www.mystatellc.com/tools/compare-states?embed=1&stateA=MS&stateB=MO" width="100%" height="720" frameborder="0" style="border:0;max-width:900px;display:block;margin:0 auto;" title="Mississippi vs Missouri LLC Cost Comparison" loading="lazy"></iframe> <p style="text-align:center;font-size:.8125rem;color:#6b7280">Source: <a href="https://www.mystatellc.com/llc/compare/mississippi-llc-vs-missouri-llc">MyStateLLC, Mississippi vs Missouri LLC Comparison</a></p>
Sources
Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified sources, and each entry says what the document is. Some statutory text is read from an accurate mirror rather than from the state's own host, and those say so. Where we hold the citation but no stable public link, the citation is printed on its own rather than pointed at a guessed address.
- Mississippi statute: Miss. Code § 79-29-215 (annual report contents)
- Mississippi bill: HB 1 (income tax phase-down)
- sos.ms.gov/business-servicesMississippi Secretary of State: business entity filings
- sos.ms.gov/content/documents/Business/FeeSchedule.pdfMississippi LLC filing fees
- sos.mo.gov/business/corporationsMissouri Secretary of State: business entity filings
- sos.mo.gov/CMSImages/Business/fees.pdfMissouri LLC filing fees
Edmond Hui · Founder, MyStateLLC
Edmond Hui is a software engineer and serial entrepreneur based in New York who has founded multiple online businesses across e-commerce, media, and information publishing. Before transitioning into tech, he spent years as a commercial real estate professional closing deals totaling over 100,000 square feet, giving him firsthand experience with business formation and entity structuring. He built MyStateLLC to provide the free, state-specific LLC guidance he wished existed when forming his own companies.