2025 fees Ohio Secretary of State Rank #11 of 51

LLC Costs in Ohio (OH)

$224 all-in for your first year - $99 to file, no annual report, plus a registered agent. Ohio is $159 (42%) cheaper than the national average for first-year LLC costs.

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Ohio has no annual report requirement for LLCs. Despite a slightly unusual $99 filing fee, ongoing costs are very low. Ohio is a major manufacturing and logistics hub with good infrastructure.

Updated 2025 · Source: Ohio Secretary of State

No recurring state report fee

No recurring state report fee. Ohio does not charge a periodic LLC report fee; the first-year stack is filing + registered agent only. With no recurring report fee, Ohio's $224 first-year stack (#11 of 51) is as lean as filing plus registered agent gets. Fees are those published by the Ohio Secretary of State; registered agent is a $125/yr market-rate line, not a vendor quote.

According to the Ohio Secretary of State fee schedule; registered agent normalized at $125/yr. See methodology. How we calculate →

$99
One-time filing fee
Not required
Annual report
$224
First-year total
#11 of 51
Cost rank (1 = cheapest)

Published SOS fee schedule

Fee strip OH · Ohio SOS FY 2026 · rank #11

Ohio · FY 2026 · 3-7 business days · no pub

  • ARTICLES Online filing
  • BIENNIAL www.ohiosos.gov
  • SCHEDULE 3-7 business days
  • REPORT +$100 expedite
  • RANK near Idaho
  • AGENT 42% below avg

Cheap-third stack: stamps derive from this state's Secretary of State fee schedule, not a recommendation of where to form. Read with cheapest SOS stacks ranked → · All 51 SOS fee rows →

1. Michigan$2002. Ohio$2243. Idaho$2254. Iowa$2355. South Carolina$2356. Oklahoma$250
1. Michigan$2002. Ohio$2243. Idaho$2254. Iowa$2355. South Carolina$2356. Oklahoma$250
First-year SOS-fee total for Ohio and nearest-cost peers. Source: each Secretary of State + 51-row aggregate.

Cost vs. speed: where Ohio sits among all 51 filing offices

Ohio delivers both: below-average cost and a 5-business-day turnaround faster than the national median. 2×2 strategic matrix plotting 30 entities by First-year cost ($) (X) and Processing time (business days) (Y), with a crosshair dividing the plot into four quadrants. Slow & expensiveCheap but slowFast but priceyFast & cheap $0$500$1,000$1,500 0d10d20d30d First-year cost ($) Processing time (business days) Cost vs. speed: where Ohio sits among all 51 filing offices
Ohio delivers both: below-average cost and a 5-business-day turnaround faster than the national median.
Ohio delivers both: below-average cost and a 5-business-day turnaround faster than the national median. National median processing time: 6 business days; national average first-year cost: $383. Source: each state's Secretary of State published processing-time guidance + the 51-row SOS fee aggregate.

How the cheap-third $224 stack breaks down

How your $224 first-year total breaks down Registered agent is still the largest piece (56%) even though Ohio sits in the cheaper third overall.
  • State filing fee $99
  • Registered agent $125
Cost Item Amount
State Filing Fee $99
No Annual Report Free
Registered Agent $125/yr
Expedited Filing (optional) $100
Total, First Year $224

Ongoing tax burden after formation

Ohio charges no corporate income tax at all, a real ongoing advantage that offsets some of the $224 one-time formation cost above over time.

Corporate income tax
0%
no corporate income tax, #2 of 51 lowest nationally
Effective property tax rate
1.31%
Of assessed property value, per year

Sources: Tax Foundation state corporate tax rates, Census ACS effective property tax rates.

Fee check: No periodic report fee today; still verify current Ohio SOS filing rules at https://www.ohiosos.gov. Not legal or tax advice.

Ohio SOS fee strip (no report fee)

Filing Fee $99
Annual Report Not required
Processing Time 3-7 business days
Expedited $100 → Same business day
Online Filing Available
First-Year Total $224
File with Ohio SOS

Similar Cost States

Arizona $175 Mississippi $175 Missouri $175 New Mexico $175

Still-cheaper peers

Even cheaper first-year SOS stacks than OH (already bottom-third):

Hawaii $190 Utah $197 Michigan $200

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified. Report a data error on this page.

Sources used on this page
  • Ohio Secretary of State - LLC filing fee, annual-report requirement, and processing time. www.ohiosos.gov
  • Federation of Tax Administrators - cross-check of state fee and tax figures. taxadmin.org
LLC fees and requirements sourced from the Ohio Secretary of State. See our methodology for details.

Verify with the Ohio Secretary of State →