Is it cheaper to form an LLC in Wyoming than Nevada?

Wyoming's filing fee is lower ($100 vs $425), but that's not the full picture: operating in Nevada means also registering as a foreign LLC there ($425) and paying a Wyoming registered agent. Realistic first-year cost is roughly $735 for the Wyoming route versus $425 for forming in Nevada.

Can I form my Nevada business in Wyoming?

Yes. Any Nevada business can form its LLC in Wyoming. But if the business operates in Nevada, it must also register there as a foreign LLC ($425 in mandatory Nevada charges) and maintain a registered agent in Wyoming, so you take on two states' fees and filings instead of one.

State Comparison

Nevada LLC vs Wyoming LLC (2026)

Written for owners based in Nevada.

Based in Wyoming? Read Wyoming LLC vs Nevada LLC →

Compare Nevada LLC vs Wyoming 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: September 13, 2026

If your business is based in Nevada, a Nevada LLC needs no foreign registration there; a Wyoming LLC run from Nevada generally must also register in Nevada as a foreign LLC ($425 in the first year, including its mandatory initial list and state business license). If your business is based in Wyoming, a Wyoming LLC needs no foreign registration there; a Nevada LLC run from Wyoming generally must also register in Wyoming as a foreign LLC (Wyoming's $150 filing fee). An LLC formed in one of these states and run from the other owes whatever filings, fees and taxes each state requires. A Nevada LLC runs $425 in year one and $350/yr after; a Wyoming LLC runs $160 and $60/yr. See the full breakdown below.

Verdict: for most owners, form where the business is based

Wyoming's $60 annual report is a licence tax rather than a flat fee, being the greater of $60 or two-tenths of one mill on assets located and employed in Wyoming, so it holds at $60 only while in-state assets stay at or below $300,000 and reaches $200 at $1,000,000. Both states skip personal income tax, and Wyoming keeps members off the public record where Nevada's Annual List does not. Formation is $100 there against $425 here, and $60 a year against $350, plus $75 to register a Wyoming LLC in Nevada.

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Factor	Nevada	Wyoming
Filing Fee	$75 ($425 with the required initial list and business license)	$100
Processing Time	Not published by the state	Instant online; up to 15 business days paper
Annual Report Fee	$150 annual list ($350 with the business license renewal)	$60
Annual Report Due	Anniversary month	First day of anniversary month
State Income Tax	No	No
Anonymous LLC	No	Yes
Publication Requirement	No	No
Foreign LLC Cost (if forming out-of-state)	N/A, you're in your home state	$425 + registered agent ~$150/yr

Full fee breakdown for either state: Nevada LLC cost and Wyoming LLC cost.

Business Climate: Nevada vs Wyoming

Factor	Nevada	Wyoming
5-year business survival rate	47.6% (#41 of 51)	47.5% (#42 of 51)
Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months))	+10.8% YoY (#30 of 51 by volume)	+13.3% YoY (#22 of 51 by volume)

Sources: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Business Employment Dynamics · U.S. Census Bureau, Business Formation Statistics (BFS)

See the full 50-state survival ranking.

Compare LLC Costs: Nevada vs Wyoming

State A

State B

Nevada

✓ Cheaper Upfront

Formation fee$75

Annual report fee$150

State entity tax$200/yr, State Business License

Report dueAnniversary month

Processing timeNot published by the state

Late penalty$175

Wyoming

✓ Cheaper Long-Term

Formation fee$100

Annual report fee$60

State entity taxNone

Report dueFirst day of anniversary month

Processing timeInstant online; up to 15 business days paper

Late penalty$0

Total Cost

Nevada

Wyoming

1 Year

$425

$160

3 Years

$1,125

$280

5 Years

$1,825

$400

Will you operate outside your home state?

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. Montana's annual report is free when filed by April 15 and $35 after, a waiver that applies to reports filed between January 1 and April 15. 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

Nevada charges $425 to form an LLC, while Wyoming charges $100. Wyoming is $325 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in Wyoming but operate in Nevada, you must also register as a foreign LLC in Nevada ($425 in mandatory Nevada charges: the $75 filing, the $150 Annual List and the $200 State Business License) and maintain a registered agent in Wyoming (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the Wyoming route at roughly $735, versus $425 for simply forming in Nevada. Only one side of this comparison is knowable: Wyoming publishes instant online; up to 15 business days paper, while Nevada publishes no standard processing time, so the two can't be ranked against each other on speed.

Taxes: Nevada vs Wyoming

Neither Nevada nor Wyoming levies a personal income tax, so there is no income-tax advantage to forming in either state. Every LLC must hold a State Business License at $200/year (NRS 76.100; corporations pay $500) and file a $150 Annual List (NRS 86.263/86.5461), $350/year total recurring. The Commerce Tax (NRS ch. 363C) applies only to businesses with Nevada gross revenue over $4 million. Wyoming charges an annual report license tax of $60 minimum ($62 filed online), based on in-state assets; no franchise or privilege tax otherwise.

Privacy & Asset Protection

Wyoming allows anonymous LLC formation. Member and manager names do not appear on routine public filings. Neither the Articles nor the annual report requires listing members or managers; only an organizer/signer appears, so ownership stays off public filings. Nevada does not offer that same privacy. Confirmed not anonymous despite marketing: both the domestic Initial/Annual List (NRS 86.263(1)) and the foreign LLC list (NRS 86.5461(1)) must state the names, titles, and addresses of all managers or, if none, all managing members, and these lists are public record filed at formation and annually. 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. Wyoming's charging-order statute (W.S. 17-29-503) makes the charging order a creditor's exclusive remedy (including for single-member LLCs) and is widely regarded as the strongest in the country. One important caveat: if you register your Wyoming LLC as a foreign LLC in Nevada, that Nevada registration is itself a public record, which can undercut much of the privacy benefit for a business that operates in Nevada.

Annual Maintenance Costs

Nevada LLCs file an annual report ($350, due in the anniversary month), and Wyoming LLCs file an annual report ($60, due in the anniversary month). If you form in Wyoming while operating in Nevada, you maintain filings in both states, Wyoming's report plus Nevada's equivalent for your foreign registration, and pay a Wyoming registered agent roughly $150 per year. That brings ongoing costs of the Wyoming route to roughly $560 per year, versus about $350 to keep a domestic Nevada LLC in good standing. There are also recurring state taxes to weigh on each side. Every LLC must hold a State Business License at $200/year (NRS 76.100; corporations pay $500) and file a $150 Annual List (NRS 86.263/86.5461), $350/year total recurring. The Commerce Tax (NRS ch. 363C) applies only to businesses with Nevada gross revenue over $4 million. Wyoming charges an annual report license tax of $60 minimum ($62 filed online), based on in-state assets; no franchise or privilege tax otherwise.

When Wyoming Actually Makes Sense

Forming in Wyoming makes sense in a few specific situations: you need anonymous ownership. Nevada puts owner or manager information on public filings and Wyoming doesn't (usually via a holding company, since operating in Nevada still requires a public foreign registration there), your business genuinely operates in Wyoming, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to Wyoming in the near future. For a typical small business based in Nevada, none of these usually apply. Registering a Wyoming LLC to do business back home means $425 in mandatory Nevada registration charges, on top of Wyoming's $100 formation fee, while Nevada's own annual report runs $150 a year and is due in the anniversary month. When in doubt, form where you actually do business.

Frequently Asked Questions

: Wyoming's filing fee is lower ($100 vs $425), but that's not the full picture: operating in Nevada means also registering as a foreign LLC there ($425) and paying a Wyoming registered agent. Realistic first-year cost is roughly $735 for the Wyoming route versus $425 for forming in Nevada.
: Yes. Any Nevada business can form its LLC in Wyoming. But if the business operates in Nevada, it must also register there as a foreign LLC ($425 in mandatory Nevada charges) and maintain a registered agent in Wyoming, so you take on two states' fees and filings instead of one.
: Wyoming offers more formation privacy. It allows anonymous LLCs while Nevada doesn't. Core asset protection is similar, though: both states provide charging-order protection for LLC members, and Wyoming’s statute is widely regarded as the strongest in the country. For most small businesses the practical difference is modest.
: It depends on where the business is based. For a Nevada-based business, Nevada: forming where the business is based keeps costs and compliance simple, and Wyoming is worth considering only if you actually do business there or want an anonymous holding company there. For a Wyoming-based business, the same reasoning points to Wyoming.
: Only one side of this comparison is knowable: Wyoming publishes instant online; up to 15 business days paper, while Nevada publishes no standard processing time, so the two can't be ranked against each other on speed. Only 19 of the 50 states publish anything about non-expedited turnaround at all. Whichever you pick, remember that forming in Wyoming while operating in Nevada means you're not fully set up until the Nevada foreign registration is also processed, so the out-of-state route is rarely the faster path end to end. If your timing is genuinely fixed, buy the state's expedite tier rather than relying on a standard turnaround.

Comparison chart of forming an LLC in Nevada versus Wyoming, contrasting filing fees, annual report cost and ongoing obligations across 8 factors. — Nevada and Wyoming side by side on the factors that decide where to form. Source: MyStateLLC 50-state cost dataset, verified against each Secretary of State's published fee schedule, July 2026.

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Affiliate link. We may earn a commission at no cost to you. MyStateLLC is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice.

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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.