Wyoming vs New Mexico LLC: Privacy and Cost Compared
By Zawwad Ul Sami, Founder · Updated August 16, 2026
These two states get compared because they are the two cheapest ways to own an LLC without your name appearing in a public database. The marketing usually stops there, which hides the part that matters: New Mexico wins on price, Wyoming wins on the statute that decides what happens when a creditor comes looking. Which one you want depends entirely on whether the entity holds anything.
Quick Answer
New Mexico is cheaper: $50 to file with no yearly report, against Wyoming's $100 and $60 a year. Wyoming has the stronger statute: charging orders are the exclusive creditor remedy under § 17-29-503(a), including for single-member LLCs.
Key facts
New Mexico charges $50 to form an LLC and has no annual report; its Revised Uniform LLC Act, effective July 1, 2024, added a triennial report with a $20 fee. Wyoming charges $100 to form and $60 minimum every year. Neither state lists members on the public filing. Wyoming makes the charging order the exclusive remedy under W.S. 17-29-503(a) and extends it to single-member LLCs. New Mexico has a state income tax and a gross receipts tax; Wyoming has neither. Wyoming offers Series LLCs; New Mexico does not.
How do Wyoming and New Mexico LLCs compare?
| Factor | Wyoming | New Mexico |
|---|---|---|
| Filing fee | $100 | $50 |
| Recurring state report | $60/year | $20 triennial |
| Members on public filing | Not listed | Not listed |
| Charging order | Exclusive remedy, § 17-29-503(a) | Available, NMSA § 53-19-35 |
| Single-member protection | Explicitly extended | Less settled |
| State income tax | None | Graduated personal income tax |
| Gross receipts tax | None | Applies to in-state activity |
| Series LLC | Available | Not available |
| Registered agent | Required | Required |
| Best for | Asset holding, operating businesses, non-residents | Low-cost shells with no meaningful assets |
What is the real cost difference over five years?
Count only state fees. Wyoming over five years is $100 to form plus four annual reports at $60, which is $340. New Mexico is $50 to form plus one or two $20 triennial reports, so roughly $70 to $90. New Mexico saves about $250 to $270 across five years.
Then add the line that is identical in both: the registered agent. Commercial agent service runs from about $25 to $299 a year in either state, so a five-year hold with a $100 agent adds $500 to both columns. The saving is real but small in proportion, which is the honest framing: you are choosing between roughly $50 a year in Wyoming and roughly $15 a year in New Mexico in state fees, and paying the same agent bill either way. Our Wyoming LLC cost breakdown itemizes the Wyoming side.
One caution on the New Mexico number: the triennial report arrived with the Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act on July 1, 2024, and the rollout has been gradual. Confirm the current filing expectation with the New Mexico Secretary of State rather than relying on older guides that still say New Mexico requires nothing at all.
Where Wyoming is worth the extra money
The difference is the charging order statute. § 17-29-503(a) makes the charging order the exclusive remedy of a member's judgment creditor in Wyoming. The creditor cannot foreclose on the membership interest, cannot vote it, cannot force a distribution, and cannot reach into the LLC for its assets. Wyoming applies that exclusivity to single-member LLCs, which is precisely where other states leave a gap, because a court can more easily reason that there is no innocent co-member to protect.
New Mexico provides charging order relief under NMSA 1978 § 53-19-35, but it is not written in the same exclusive-remedy terms and the single-member question is less developed. For a shell holding nothing, that distinction never gets tested. For an entity holding rental property, a portfolio, or intellectual property, it is the only thing that will matter on the day it matters. The mechanics are in the charging order guide and the single-member protection guide.
Is New Mexico more private than Wyoming?
Marginally, and not in a way most owners will notice. Neither state puts members or managers on the formation filing, so neither appears in a public search. New Mexico's edge is that having no yearly report means fewer filings that could disclose anything, and its triennial report is a light document. Wyoming's annual report does not add member names either, so the practical outcome is close to identical.
What neither state changes: beneficial ownership reporting to FinCEN where it applies, the identity your bank collects, the responsible party on the EIN application, and anything a court orders disclosed. State-level privacy keeps your name out of a free public database. It is not a shield against anyone with legal authority to ask. See Wyoming LLC privacy for the full boundary.
Frequently Asked Questions: Wyoming vs New Mexico
If the entity will hold anything, choose Wyoming
$497 one time covers the $100 state filing, registered agent year one, operating agreement, EIN, and bank applications. It renews at $160 a year.
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