North Dakota LLC vs California LLC (2026)
Written for owners based in North Dakota.
Verdict: for most owners, form where the business is based
North Dakota's entire recurring bill is $50 a year. California's is $810, the highest in the country, because the Franchise Tax Board's $800 annual tax applies from the first tax year and keeps running until the LLC is formally cancelled, business or no business. The $70 Articles of Organization make California look half the price of North Dakota's $135, yet the first year is $880 against $185. An LLC with $250,000 or more of California income owes a further fee starting at $900. Operating a California LLC from here also needs a $135 North Dakota certificate of authority.
Based in California? Read California LLC vs North Dakota LLC →
Compare North Dakota LLC vs California 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 23, 2026
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| Factor | North Dakota | California |
|---|---|---|
| Filing Fee | $135 | $70 |
| Processing Time | Not published by the state | Live queue, not fixed |
| Annual Report Fee | $50 | $20 (biennial) |
| Annual Report Due | November 15 | Anniversary month |
| State Income Tax | Yes | Yes |
| Anonymous LLC | No | No |
| Publication Requirement | No | No |
| Foreign LLC Cost (if forming out-of-state) | N/A, you're in your home state | $135 + registered agent ~$150/yr |
Full fee breakdown for either state: North Dakota LLC cost and California LLC cost. Owner privacy options for either state: North Dakota anonymous LLC guide and California anonymous LLC guide.
Business Climate: North Dakota vs California
| Factor | North Dakota | California |
|---|---|---|
| 5-year business survival rate | 54.4% (#7 of 51) | 53.7% (#12 of 51) |
| Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months)) | +14% YoY (#50 of 51 by volume) | +14.7% YoY (#2 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: North Dakota vs California
North Dakota
California
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
North Dakota charges $135 to form an LLC, while California charges $70. California is $65 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in California but operate in North Dakota, you must also register as a foreign LLC in North Dakota (a $135 filing) and maintain a registered agent in California (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the California route at roughly $355, versus $135 for simply forming in North Dakota. Speed isn't a basis for choosing between them: neither North Dakota nor California publishes a standard processing time, so any figure comparing the two is guesswork.
Taxes: North Dakota vs California
Both North Dakota and California 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 California doesn't change what a North Dakota-based owner pays. California LLCs owe an $800 minimum annual franchise tax to the Franchise Tax Board, plus an LLC gross-receipts fee above $250,000 of California income.
Privacy & Asset Protection
Neither North Dakota nor California offers anonymous LLC formation: both states require owner or manager information on public filings. The biennial Statement of Information (Form LLC-12) discloses managers or, if member-managed, at least one member, all public. Business owners who prioritize privacy typically form a holding company in a state like Wyoming or New Mexico instead. 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.
Annual Maintenance Costs
North Dakota LLCs file an annual report ($50, due November 15), and California LLCs file a biennial report ($20, due in the anniversary month, every two years). If you form in California while operating in North Dakota, you maintain filings in both states, California's report plus North Dakota's equivalent for your foreign registration, and pay a California registered agent roughly $150 per year. Counting report fees, the agent and any entity-level tax, that brings the California route to roughly $1,020 a year, versus about $50 to keep a domestic North Dakota LLC in good standing. The tax inside those totals: California LLCs owe an $800 minimum annual franchise tax to the Franchise Tax Board, plus an LLC gross-receipts fee above $250,000 of California income.
When California Actually Makes Sense
Forming in California makes sense in a few specific situations: your business genuinely operates in California, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to California in the near future. For a typical small business based in North Dakota, none of these usually apply. Registering a California LLC to do business back home means $135 in North Dakota foreign-registration fees, on top of California's $70 formation fee, while North Dakota's own annual report runs $50 a year and is due November 15. When in doubt, form where you actually do business.
Frequently Asked Questions
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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.
- sos.nd.gov/business/business-services/business-structures/limited-liability-company-llcNorth Dakota Secretary of State: business entity filings
- ndlegis.gov/cencode/t10c32-1.pdfNorth Dakota LLC filing fees
- sos.ca.gov/business-programs/business-entitiesCalifornia Secretary of State: business entity filings
- sos.ca.gov/business-programs/business-entities/forms/limited-liability-companies-california-domesticCalifornia 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.