Is it cheaper to form an LLC in Connecticut than Pennsylvania?

Connecticut's filing fee is lower ($120 vs $125), but that's not the full picture: operating in Pennsylvania means also registering as a foreign LLC there ($250) and paying a Connecticut registered agent. Realistic first-year cost is roughly $520 for the Connecticut route versus $125 for forming in Pennsylvania.

Can I form my Pennsylvania business in Connecticut?

Yes. Any Pennsylvania business can form its LLC in Connecticut. But if the business operates in Pennsylvania, it must also register there as a foreign LLC ($250 filing fee) and maintain a registered agent in Connecticut, so you take on two states' fees and filings instead of one.

Does Connecticut have better asset protection than Pennsylvania?

Not meaningfully. Both states provide charging-order protection for LLC members, and neither offers a decisive asset-protection edge for a typical small business. Sound insurance and clean separation of business and personal finances matter more in practice.

State Comparison

Pennsylvania LLC vs Connecticut LLC (2026)

Written for owners based in Pennsylvania.

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

Connecticut's $120 certificate undercuts Pennsylvania's $125 by $5, and that is the last time it is cheaper. Its annual report costs $80 and must be delivered by electronic transmission between January 1 and April 1, where Pennsylvania asks $7 in a January to September window. First-year cost is $200 against $132, and every year after adds $73. Connecticut also forfeits an LLC more than a year in default, with a $120 reinstatement on top of the missed reports. A Pennsylvania owner still pays $250 to bring that LLC home.

Based in Connecticut? Read Connecticut LLC vs Pennsylvania LLC →

Compare Pennsylvania LLC vs Connecticut 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

If your business is based in Pennsylvania, a Pennsylvania LLC needs no foreign registration there; a Connecticut LLC run from Pennsylvania generally must also register in Pennsylvania as a foreign LLC (Pennsylvania's $250 filing fee). If your business is based in Connecticut, a Connecticut LLC needs no foreign registration there; a Pennsylvania LLC run from Connecticut generally must also register in Connecticut as a foreign LLC (Connecticut's $120 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 Pennsylvania LLC runs $132 in year one and $7/yr after; a Connecticut LLC runs $200 and $80/yr. See the full breakdown below.

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Factor	Pennsylvania	Connecticut
Filing Fee	$125	$120
Processing Time	2 to 4 days	Most online filings auto-accepted
Annual Report Fee	$7	$80
Annual Report Due	September 30	March 31
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	$250 + registered agent ~$150/yr

Full fee breakdown for either state: Pennsylvania LLC cost and Connecticut LLC cost. Owner privacy options for either state: Pennsylvania anonymous LLC guide and Connecticut anonymous LLC guide.

Business Climate: Pennsylvania vs Connecticut

Factor	Pennsylvania	Connecticut
5-year business survival rate	57.1% (#1 of 51)	51.1% (#25 of 51)
Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months))	+6.5% YoY (#12 of 51 by volume)	+15.6% YoY (#34 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: Pennsylvania vs Connecticut

State A

State B

Pennsylvania

✓ Cheaper Long-Term

Formation fee$125

Annual report fee$7

State entity taxNone

Report dueSeptember 30

Processing time2 to 4 days

Late penalty$0

Connecticut

✓ Cheaper Upfront

Formation fee$120

Annual report fee$80

State entity taxNone

Report dueMarch 31

Processing timeMost online filings auto-accepted

Late penalty$0

Total Cost

Pennsylvania

Connecticut

1 Year

$132

$200

3 Years

$146

$360

5 Years

$160

$520

Will you operate outside your home state?

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

Pennsylvania charges $125 to form an LLC, while Connecticut charges $120. Connecticut is $5 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in Connecticut but operate in Pennsylvania, you must also register as a foreign LLC in Pennsylvania (a $250 filing) and maintain a registered agent in Connecticut (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the Connecticut route at roughly $520, versus $125 for simply forming in Pennsylvania. Both states publish a standard turnaround, Pennsylvania (2 to 4 days) and Connecticut (most online filings auto-accepted), though a published figure is a norm, not a guarantee.

Taxes: Pennsylvania vs Connecticut

Both Pennsylvania and Connecticut 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 Connecticut doesn't change what a Pennsylvania-based owner pays. Pennsylvania levies a flat 3.07% personal income tax. Neither state imposes a separate franchise or privilege tax on LLCs beyond standard filing fees.

Privacy & Asset Protection

Neither Pennsylvania nor Connecticut offers anonymous LLC formation: both states require owner or manager information on public filings. Connecticut's annual report discloses the LLC's members or managers, a public filing. 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

Pennsylvania LLCs file an annual report ($7, due September 30), and Connecticut LLCs file an annual report ($80, due March 31). If you form in Connecticut while operating in Pennsylvania, you maintain filings in both states, Connecticut's report plus Pennsylvania's equivalent for your foreign registration, and pay a Connecticut registered agent roughly $150 per year. Counting report fees, the agent and any entity-level tax, that brings the Connecticut route to roughly $237 a year, versus about $7 to keep a domestic Pennsylvania LLC in good standing.

When Connecticut Actually Makes Sense

Forming in Connecticut makes sense in a few specific situations: your business genuinely operates in Connecticut, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to Connecticut in the near future. For a typical small business based in Pennsylvania, none of these usually apply. Registering a Connecticut LLC to do business back home means $250 in Pennsylvania foreign-registration fees, on top of Connecticut's $120 formation fee, while Pennsylvania's own annual report runs $7 a year and is due September 30. When in doubt, form where you actually do business.

Frequently Asked Questions

: Connecticut's filing fee is lower ($120 vs $125), but that's not the full picture: operating in Pennsylvania means also registering as a foreign LLC there ($250) and paying a Connecticut registered agent. Realistic first-year cost is roughly $520 for the Connecticut route versus $125 for forming in Pennsylvania.
: Yes. Any Pennsylvania business can form its LLC in Connecticut. But if the business operates in Pennsylvania, it must also register there as a foreign LLC ($250 filing fee) and maintain a registered agent in Connecticut, so you take on two states' fees and filings instead of one.
: Not meaningfully. Both states provide charging-order protection for LLC members, and neither offers a decisive asset-protection edge for a typical small business. Sound insurance and clean separation of business and personal finances matter more in practice.
: It depends on where the business is based. For a Pennsylvania-based business, Pennsylvania: forming where the business is based keeps costs and compliance simple, and Connecticut is worth considering only if you actually do business there. For a Connecticut-based business, the same reasoning points to Connecticut.
: Both states publish a standard turnaround, Pennsylvania (2 to 4 days) and Connecticut (most online filings auto-accepted), though a published figure is a norm, not a guarantee. Whichever you pick, remember that forming in Connecticut while operating in Pennsylvania means you're not fully set up until the Pennsylvania 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 Pennsylvania versus Connecticut, contrasting filing fees, annual report cost and ongoing obligations across 8 factors. — Pennsylvania and Connecticut 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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More State Comparisons

Pennsylvania vs Delaware →Pennsylvania vs Florida →Pennsylvania vs Georgia →Pennsylvania vs Wyoming →Connecticut vs Delaware →

Pennsylvania LLC Guide →Connecticut LLC Guide →

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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. Where we hold the citation but no stable public link, the citation is printed on its own rather than pointed at a guessed address.

Pennsylvania law: Act 122 of 2022 (annual report replacing decennial report)
pa.gov/agencies/dos/programs/businessPennsylvania Department of State, Bureau of Corporations and Charitable Organizations: business entity filings
pa.gov/agencies/dos/programs/business/fees-and-paymentsPennsylvania LLC filing fees
business.ct.gov/business-servicesConnecticut Secretary of State: business entity filings
business.ct.gov/-/media/businessonestop/fee-schedule-revised-712020.pdfConnecticut 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.