The best state for your LLC as a non-resident: Wyoming, Florida, Delaware and New Mexico — no brochure
'What's the best state for my LLC?' is the question I hear most — and it's the wrong question. The right one is 'what's the best state for MY case?', and that one has a two-minute answer. Here it is, with the numbers and the traps the brochure skips.
🌐 También en español: ¿En qué estado abrir tu LLC?
The right question
Your LLC's state isn't a clothing brand: it's the jurisdiction that will regulate your company and bill you every year. And one variable decides almost everything: where your real operation is. Everything else — privacy, cost, prestige — lines up behind that answer.
Wyoming: the non-resident default
If you sell services or products online from abroad, Wyoming is the natural starting point, for four concrete reasons:
- Cost: among the cheapest formation and maintenance in the country (the annual report carries a minimum fee of about USD 60).
- No state income tax. Your tax picture is defined federally and in your home country — Wyoming adds no layer of its own.
- Privacy: members don't appear in the public registry.
- Simplicity: one annual filing, in your anniversary month.
Florida: when your life runs through it
If your operation, your property or your move is in Florida, form in Florida. The classic mistake is forming in Wyoming "because it's cheaper" and then operating in Florida: the law requires registering there anyway (foreign qualification) and you end up paying two states, two registered agents and two annual reports. Florida's annual report costs USD 138.75, is due May 1, and filing late adds a painful USD 400 penalty.
Delaware: for raising capital, not for invoicing
Venture funds love Delaware for its specialized court (the Court of Chancery) and legal predictability. If your plan is raising venture capital or converting to a C-Corp, it makes sense. For a non-resident service business, it means paying a USD 300 annual franchise tax for prestige no client will ever ask about.
New Mexico: cheap, with fine print
No annual report and the cheapest formation around. The savings are real, but some banks and platforms look more kindly on WY/FL/DE, and the provider ecosystem is thinner. A valid option for simple passive structures; think twice if banking is critical to your business.
The two-minute rule
Physical operations or personal life in one specific state? → that state.
Everything online from abroad? → Wyoming.
Raising venture capital? → Delaware.
None of the above and every dollar counts? → New Mexico, knowing the fine print.
Already chose "wrong"? Moving states later (domestication) is possible but costs more than thinking it through up front. If your LLC already exists and you doubt the structure, the diagnostic is quick and cheap compared to dragging the mistake along.
📄 Take this with you as a PDF
This article is also a free printable guide: The complete non-resident LLC formation checklist.
Your specific case?
Everything above is the general rule — real cases live in the details. In a 15-minute consultation (USD 29, credited toward any service) we review your situation and you leave with a concrete next step: book here →