Pennsylvania LLC vs Wisconsin LLC (2026)
Written for owners based in Pennsylvania.
Verdict: for most owners, form where the business is based
Wisconsin's online Articles of Organization are $130, $5 over Pennsylvania's $125, and its annual report is $25 against $7. The deadline is a quarter rather than a date: Wisconsin law puts the report in the calendar quarter containing the anniversary of the articles' effective date, so an LLC formed in February files by March 31. Paper filing is a pure penalty, $170 to form and $40 for the report. Under a 2025 Wisconsin law, a Wisconsin LLC whose members are all student entrepreneurs pays no formation fee. Registering that LLC in Pennsylvania costs $250.
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Compare Pennsylvania LLC vs Wisconsin 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 | Pennsylvania | Wisconsin |
|---|---|---|
| Filing Fee | $125 | $130 |
| Processing Time | 2 to 4 days | Instant on receipt (online) |
| Annual Report Fee | $7 | $25 |
| Annual Report Due | September 30 | Anniversary quarter |
| 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 Wisconsin LLC cost. Owner privacy options for either state: Pennsylvania anonymous LLC guide and Wisconsin anonymous LLC guide.
Business Climate: Pennsylvania vs Wisconsin
| Factor | Pennsylvania | Wisconsin |
|---|---|---|
| 5-year business survival rate | 57.1% (#1 of 51) | 52.4% (#21 of 51) |
| Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months)) | +6.5% YoY (#12 of 51 by volume) | +20% YoY (#25 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: Pennsylvania vs Wisconsin
Pennsylvania
Wisconsin
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 Wisconsin charges $130. Pennsylvania is $5 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in Wisconsin but operate in Pennsylvania, you must also register as a foreign LLC in Pennsylvania (a $250 filing) and maintain a registered agent in Wisconsin (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the Wisconsin route at roughly $530, versus $125 for simply forming in Pennsylvania. Both states publish a standard turnaround, Pennsylvania (2 to 4 days) and Wisconsin (instant on receipt, online), though a published figure is a norm, not a guarantee.
Taxes: Pennsylvania vs Wisconsin
Both Pennsylvania and Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin 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 Wisconsin offers anonymous LLC formation: both states require owner or manager information on public filings. Wisconsin's annual report lists member/manager names and addresses, which become 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
Pennsylvania LLCs file an annual report ($7, due September 30), and Wisconsin LLCs file an annual report ($25, due in the anniversary quarter). If you form in Wisconsin while operating in Pennsylvania, you maintain filings in both states, Wisconsin's report plus Pennsylvania's equivalent for your foreign registration, and pay a Wisconsin registered agent roughly $150 per year. Counting report fees, the agent and any entity-level tax, that brings the Wisconsin route to roughly $182 a year, versus about $7 to keep a domestic Pennsylvania LLC in good standing.
When Wisconsin Actually Makes Sense
Forming in Wisconsin makes sense in a few specific situations: your business genuinely operates in Wisconsin, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to Wisconsin in the near future. For a typical small business based in Pennsylvania, none of these usually apply. Registering a Wisconsin LLC to do business back home means $250 in Pennsylvania foreign-registration fees, on top of Wisconsin's $130 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
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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.
- Wisconsin statute: Wis. Stat. 183.0212(3)(a) (annual report quarter)
- Wisconsin law: 2025 Act 224 (free formation for student entrepreneurs)
- 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
- dfi.wi.gov/Pages/BusinessServices/BusinessEntities/GeneralInformation.aspxWisconsin Department of Financial Institutions: business entity filings
- dfi.wi.gov/Pages/BusinessServices/BusinessEntities/Fees.aspxWisconsin 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.