Registered Agent Requirements in All 50 States
Every state requires an LLC to keep a registered agent or its equivalent. Find your state's rules, costs, and whether you can be your own registered agent.
All 50 state guides published.
Registered Agent FAQs
- Yes, or its equivalent. Every state requires an LLC to keep a registered agent or, in Pennsylvania, a registered office or commercial registered office provider, at all times. This is not optional and applies regardless of how small or inactive your LLC is. The registered agent must have a physical street address (not a P.O. box) in the state where your LLC is registered and must be available during normal business hours to accept legal documents. If your LLC operates in multiple states as a foreign LLC, you need a registered agent in each state where you're registered. Failing to maintain a registered agent puts your LLC at risk of administrative dissolution and missed legal notices.
- You need one in the state where your LLC was formed and in every state where it is registered as a foreign LLC, each with a physical street address in that state. Doing business in another state does not automatically register your LLC there. Whether your activity requires foreign registration depends on that state's rules. If it does, you must register and appoint an agent there, and operating without registering can bring penalties.
- Yes, in most states you can serve as your own registered agent as long as you meet two requirements: you must have a physical street address in the state (your home address qualifies) and you must be available at that address during normal business hours. The practical downside is that the address you list becomes part of the state's public record. A professional registered agent service puts its own address in the registered agent field instead. That does not remove any other name or address your state's filings ask for, and some states' formation documents or reports require a member's or manager's name and address.
- If your LLC loses its registered agent and does not appoint a replacement, the state can treat the LLC as out of compliance, and in many states that can lead to administrative dissolution. Legal papers and state notices may also fail to reach you, so you could miss a lawsuit or a deadline. How long a state waits before acting, and what it costs to fix, differ by state. See your state's guide below or ask the state's business filing office.
- You can change your registered agent by filing a change of registered agent form (the name differs by state) with your state's business filing office. The fee and the processing time differ by state, so check the filing office's current fee schedule. You'll need the new agent's name and physical street address. If you're switching to a commercial registered agent service, it typically handles the paperwork as part of onboarding. Make sure the new agent has agreed to serve before you file.
- Of the services we compare, the standard annual renewal rate is Northwest Registered Agent at $125/yr, Bizee at $149/yr, ZenBusiness at $199/yr and LegalZoom at $249/yr. Some formation services include the first year of registered agent service, so the first bill is often lower than the second. Check the renewal price before you sign up. An LLC registered in more than one state pays for an agent in each state.
This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. It describes rules that can differ from state to state, and fees, rates, forms and deadlines can change after we review them. It cannot tell you what applies to your own business: that turns on where the business is formed, where it operates and how it is taxed. Confirm anything you rely on with the state or federal agency concerned, or with a licensed attorney or CPA, before you act on it.
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.