How much does it cost to start an LLC in Minnesota?

It depends how you file. The Minnesota Secretary of State charges $155 for Articles of Organization filed online or in person, and $135 if you mail them, the official form states "$155 for expedited service in-person and online filings, $135 if submitted by mail." The higher price buys expedited handling, so most filers pay $155. A foreign LLC registering in Minnesota pays $185 by mail or $205 online.

Why do I see both $135 and $155 for a Minnesota LLC?

Because Minnesota charges $20 more for the expedited channels. $135 is the mail filing fee for Articles of Organization; $155 is the in-person and online fee, and in-person and online filings are treated as expedited. Both figures are on the Secretary of State's business filing fee schedule and on the Articles of Organization form itself.

Does a Minnesota LLC have to file an annual report?

Yes. Minnesota calls it the Annual Renewal, and it is free. It is due by December 31 every calendar year starting the year after you filed your articles, so an LLC formed in 2026 files its first renewal by December 31, 2027. Missing it is serious: under Minnesota law the Secretary of State administratively terminates the LLC, and reinstatement costs $25 by mail or $45 online.

Does a Minnesota LLC pay an annual state tax?

There is no franchise tax, but Minnesota has a graduated Minimum Fee. For 2026 it is $0 if your Minnesota property, payroll, and sales total under $1,280,000, then $260, $770, $2,560, $5,140, and $12,830 as that total climbs through $2.56M, $12.83M, $25.64M, and $51.28M. A single-member LLC reporting only on the owner's Form M1 does not pay it.

Minnesota LLC Cost (2026)

By Edmond Hui · Fees verified July 29, 2026 against the Minnesota Secretary of State fee schedule

In Minnesota, the first-year state cost of an LLC is $155, before any registered-agent service. Forming an LLC in Minnesota costs $155 to file the Articles of Organization with the state, the Annual Renewal costs $0 every year.

Bar chart of LLC costs in Minnesota: $155 in unavoidable state charges in the first year and $0 a year after that. Minnesota charges $0 for its annual report. — The recurring figure covers the annual report plus any flat state entity tax. Source: Minnesota's published filing fee schedule, verified July 2026.

Articles of Organization$155

Annual Renewal$0

First-year state cost$155

Five-year state cost$155

How much does it cost to form an LLC in Minnesota?

Minnesota prices the same document two ways: Articles of Organization are $135 by mail and $155 in person or online, because the in-person/online channel is the expedited one. The annual renewal itself is free but is due every December 31, and Minnesota charges $25 by mail or $45 online to reinstate an LLC that misses it. Ancillary fees follow the same mail/online split, name reservation $35 mail / $55 online, certificate of good standing $5 mail or in person / $15 online, and a certified copy is built from a $3 copy fee (mail and in person) or $13 online plus $5 per certification. A foreign LLC's Certificate of Authority is $185 by mail and $205 in person or online.

Which fees does a Minnesota LLC pay, and how often?

Cost	Amount	How often	Charged by
Articles of Organization	$155	One time	Minnesota Secretary of State
Same filing, submitted on paper	$135	One time	Minnesota Secretary of State
Annual Renewal	$0	Every year	Minnesota Secretary of State
Required state cost, first year	$155	N/A	N/A
Registered agent service (optional)	$50 to $300	Every year	Commercial provider
Expedite and special handling fees in our record: Expedited service (built into the in-person and online filing fee) ($20)	$20	One time	Minnesota Secretary of State
Name reservation (optional)	$35	One time	Minnesota Secretary of State
Certificate of good standing (optional)	$5	Per copy	Minnesota Secretary of State

The official Articles of Organization form states it directly: "Filing Fee: $155 for expedited service in-person and online filings, $135 if submitted by mail", the $20 gap is the expedite charge, and the online channel most filers use is the $155 one.

Minimum Fee: Graduated on the sum of Minnesota property, payroll, and sales/receipts. 2026 brackets: $0 below $1,280,000; $260 from $1,280,000 to $2,559,999; $770 from $2,560,000 to $12,829,999; $2,560 from $12,830,000 to $25,639,999; $5,140 from $25,640,000 to $51,279,999; $12,830 at $51,280,000 or more. The thresholds and fee amounts are inflation-adjusted annually.

No newspaper publication requirement for LLC formation anywhere in Minnesota's LLC statute; Minnesota's publication requirement applies only to Certificates of Assumed Name under the state's assumed name law.

Registered agent is listed separately because it is a commercial service, not a state charge. Commercial registered-agent services, not a state charge. Range and $125 midpoint match the assumption used by /tools/llc-true-cost. Most states let you serve as your own registered agent at no cost if you have a physical in-state address. Run your own numbers in the true-cost calculator. For what formation services charge on top of these state fees, see the best LLC services in Minnesota.

Next steps for an LLC in Minnesota

What does a Minnesota LLC cost over five years?

State charges only in the first column; the second adds a registered-agent service at the $125/yr market midpoint.

Period	State cost only	With registered agent
Year 1 (formation + first filing)	$155	$280
Each year after	$0/yr	$125/yr
Five-year total	$155	$780

First filing timing: Under Minnesota law the obligation starts "each calendar year beginning in the calendar year following the calendar year in which" the LLC filed its articles of organization, so an LLC formed in 2026 files its first annual renewal by December 31, 2027.

Is Minnesota expensive compared with other states?

Minnesota ranks 20th cheapest of 50 states on first-year cost , $77.16 below the $232.16 national average. On ongoing annual cost it ranks 4th.

Cheaper state	First-year cost	You would save
Montana	$35	$120
Arizona	$50	$105
Missouri	$50	$105

A cheaper filing fee elsewhere rarely saves money if you live and operate in Minnesota. Doing business here with an out-of-state LLC generally means registering it as a foreign LLC in Minnesota anyway. Paying both states. See foreign qualification in Minnesota before forming elsewhere to save on fees.

When is the Minnesota filing deadline, and what happens if you miss it?

Annual Renewal

Frequency	every year
Due	by December 31 of each calendar year
Fee	$0

There is no late fee because there is no late window. Minnesota goes straight from a missed December 31 to administrative termination. Getting back requires an Annual Reinstatement at $25 by mail or $45 in person/online.

Minnesota law requires the Secretary of State to notify LLCs that failing to file the annual renewal results in administrative termination of the LLC (or revocation of a foreign LLC's authority). Annual Reinstatement is $25 by mail / $45 in-person or online per the fee schedule.

Full Minnesota annual report filing guide · Deadline calculator

What cost traps are specific to Minnesota?

$135 is the mail-only price

Almost every fee table quotes Minnesota as a $135 state, but $135 is the non-expedited mail fee. Filing online or at the counter, how most people actually form an LLC, costs $155, because those channels are the expedited tier. The official Articles of Organization form spells this out on its first line.

Free annual renewal, but no grace period

The December 31 annual renewal costs $0, which makes it easy to treat as optional. Minnesota law has the Secretary of State administratively terminate an LLC that fails to file it, and there is no late fee stage in between. The next cost you see is a $25 (mail) or $45 (online) Annual Reinstatement.

Minimum Fee at $1.28M of Minnesota activity

A multi-member Minnesota LLC (or one taxed as an S corp) owes the Department of Revenue's Minimum Fee once its Minnesota property plus payroll plus sales reaches $1,280,000 for 2026, $260 at that first bracket, rising to $12,830 above $51,280,000. Single-member LLCs reporting on the owner's Form M1 are exempt.

Frequently Asked Questions

: It depends how you file. The Minnesota Secretary of State charges $155 for Articles of Organization filed online or in person, and $135 if you mail them, the official form states "$155 for expedited service in-person and online filings, $135 if submitted by mail." The higher price buys expedited handling, so most filers pay $155. A foreign LLC registering in Minnesota pays $185 by mail or $205 online.
: Because Minnesota charges $20 more for the expedited channels. $135 is the mail filing fee for Articles of Organization; $155 is the in-person and online fee, and in-person and online filings are treated as expedited. Both figures are on the Secretary of State's business filing fee schedule and on the Articles of Organization form itself.
: Yes. Minnesota calls it the Annual Renewal, and it is free. It is due by December 31 every calendar year starting the year after you filed your articles, so an LLC formed in 2026 files its first renewal by December 31, 2027. Missing it is serious: under Minnesota law the Secretary of State administratively terminates the LLC, and reinstatement costs $25 by mail or $45 online.
: There is no franchise tax, but Minnesota has a graduated Minimum Fee. For 2026 it is $0 if your Minnesota property, payroll, and sales total under $1,280,000, then $260, $770, $2,560, $5,140, and $12,830 as that total climbs through $2.56M, $12.83M, $25.64M, and $51.28M. A single-member LLC reporting only on the owner's Form M1 does not pay it.

Where do these numbers come from?

Every fee above was checked against Minnesota's own published sources on July 29, 2026 , the Minnesota Secretary of State fee schedule, the governing statute, and where a state-level tax applies, the state tax authority. Commercial formation-service pages were not used.

The first-year total is the Articles of Organization fee plus the first year of any recurring state charge. Where a state's first report is not due until the following year, that is noted above. The five-year total is the filing fee plus five years of recurring charges, which avoids the timing question entirely. Registered-agent service is excluded from all state figures.

Sources

8 documents

Each entry below is a document recorded in our verified Minnesota 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.

sos.mn.gov/media/2851/businessentityfees.pdf
sos.mn.gov/media/1824/llcarticlesoforganization.pdf
revisor.mn.gov/statutes/cite/322C.0208
revenue.state.mn.us/minimum-fee
Minnesota statute: Minn. Stat. §322C.0208 (annual renewal timing)
Minnesota statute: Minn. Stat. §322C.0208 (annual renewal and administrative termination)
Minnesota statute: Minn. Stat. ch. 322C (LLC statute, no publication step)
Minnesota statute: Minn. Stat. ch. 333 (assumed name publication)

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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.

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