How we score 50 jurisdictions.
Valia is opinionated. Most LLC advice you find online is paid placement from formation services. Our recommendation is built from public statutes and fee schedules — not commissions.
Operational nexus comes first
If you have employees, inventory, or a physical office in a US state, you almost always need to form there. Forming in Wyoming and registering as a foreign LLC in California doubles your fees with zero benefit. We surface this hard rule before optimizing for anything else.
Total cost over 5 years, not just filing
Wyoming's $100 filing fee looks great until you compare to New Mexico's $0 annual report. Delaware's $300 franchise tax is fine if you raise capital, painful if you don't. We model 5-year total cost of ownership for each state.
Privacy is a spectrum, not a checkbox
Anonymous LLC means different things in different states. Wyoming and New Mexico keep members off public record. Delaware requires no member disclosure but does require a registered agent of record. We grade privacy on a 1–5 scale across four dimensions.
Fundraising compatibility is binary
If you plan to raise venture capital, you should form in Delaware. Period. Every other consideration is downstream of this. We weight the fundraising answer heavily because the cost of converting later is real.
We update for statutory changes
State legislatures revise LLC acts every year. Annual report fees, franchise tax brackets, and beneficial-ownership disclosure rules shift. The methodology is reviewed quarterly against the most recent state secretary filings.