West Virginia LLC vs North Dakota LLC (2026)
Written for owners based in West Virginia.
Verdict: for most owners, form where the business is based
North Dakota costs $135 to form and $50 a year, leaving it $35 dearer at the door and $25 dearer annually than West Virginia. Its deadline is the outlier: the annual report is due before November 16 rather than in spring, and one filed after November 15 costs $100 instead of $50. Six months past that the LLC ceases to exist automatically, with no hearing. West Virginia's June 30 date is statewide, a late report there reaches $75, and a one-time $30 certificate per fixed location completes the bill. Foreign registration here is $150.
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Compare West Virginia LLC vs North Dakota 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 1, 2026
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| Factor | West Virginia | North Dakota |
|---|---|---|
| Filing Fee | $100 | $135 |
| Processing Time | 5 to 10 business days (paper) | Not published by the state |
| Annual Report Fee | $25 | $50 |
| Annual Report Due | June 30 | November 15 |
| 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 | $150 + registered agent ~$150/yr |
Full fee breakdown for either state: West Virginia LLC cost and North Dakota LLC cost. Owner privacy options for either state: West Virginia anonymous LLC guide and North Dakota anonymous LLC guide.
Business Climate: West Virginia vs North Dakota
| Factor | West Virginia | North Dakota |
|---|---|---|
| 5-year business survival rate | 53.6% (#14 of 51) | 54.4% (#7 of 51) |
| Business application growth (2026 YTD (Jan to Jul) vs 2025 YTD (same months)) | +19% YoY (#43 of 51 by volume) | +14% YoY (#50 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: West Virginia vs North Dakota
West Virginia
North Dakota
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
West Virginia charges $100 to form an LLC, while North Dakota charges $135. West Virginia is $35 cheaper upfront. The cost that usually gets overlooked: if you form in North Dakota but operate in West Virginia, you must also register as a foreign LLC in West Virginia (a $150 filing) and maintain a registered agent in North Dakota (typically around $150 per year). That puts the realistic first-year cost of the North Dakota route at roughly $435, versus $100 for simply forming in West Virginia. Only one side of this comparison is knowable: West Virginia publishes a standard turnaround (5 to 10 business days, paper), while North Dakota publishes no standard processing time, so the two can't be ranked against each other on speed.
Taxes: West Virginia vs North Dakota
Both West Virginia and North Dakota 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 North Dakota doesn't change what a West Virginia-based owner pays. Neither state imposes a separate franchise or privilege tax on LLCs beyond standard filing fees.
Privacy & Asset Protection
Neither West Virginia nor North Dakota offers anonymous LLC formation: both states require owner or manager information on public filings. North Dakota's annual report lists the LLC's managers or members. 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
West Virginia LLCs file an annual report ($25, due June 30), and North Dakota LLCs file an annual report ($50, due November 15). If you form in North Dakota while operating in West Virginia, you maintain filings in both states, North Dakota's report plus West Virginia's equivalent for your foreign registration, and pay a North Dakota registered agent roughly $150 per year. Counting report fees, the agent and any entity-level tax, that brings the North Dakota route to roughly $225 a year, versus about $25 to keep a domestic West Virginia LLC in good standing.
When North Dakota Actually Makes Sense
Forming in North Dakota makes sense in a few specific situations: your business genuinely operates in North Dakota, with a real office, employees, or property there, or you're relocating to North Dakota in the near future. For a typical small business based in West Virginia, none of these usually apply. Registering a North Dakota LLC to do business back home means $150 in West Virginia foreign-registration fees, on top of North Dakota's $135 formation fee, while West Virginia's own annual report runs $25 a year and is due June 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.
- sos.wv.gov/businessWest Virginia Secretary of State: business entity filings
- sos.wv.gov/media/335/download?inline=West Virginia LLC filing fees
- 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
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.