Jurisdictions — Where Each State Actually Stands
A comparison landing across every jurisdiction Private Pierce has built a research silo for — transcluded from each jurisdiction's own cited rankings data, never restated by hand. Not legal advice.
Short answer
Wyoming is the first jurisdiction with a full research silo on this site — history, facts, privacy, taxes, asset protection, and how it compares to Delaware, Nevada, and New Mexico. This index is built to hold more than one: each jurisdiction below owns its own cited rankings artifact, and adding a second jurisdiction is an additive entry here, not a rebuild of this page or its underlying data.
Wyoming
Wyoming wrote the first LLC statute in the United States, in 1977, and has kept adding statutory options since. The full silo — thirteen cited pages — starts at Wyoming — The Operator's Jurisdiction. Its position on every live Private Pierce comparison matrix, in full, is on Wyoming Cross-Matrix Rankings; a sample of that data is transcluded below.
Where Wyoming leads (sample)
| Axis | Value | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Self-settled asset protection trust permitted | Yes | 1 of 51 |
| Charging order is the exclusive remedy | Yes | 1 of 51 |
| Transfer-on-death deed available | Yes | 1 of 51 |
| Certified articles fee | $10 | 11 of 51 |
| Close LLC statutory election available | Yes | 1 of 49 |
Where Wyoming trails (sample)
| Axis | Value | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| Homestead exemption unlimited | No | 8 of 51 |
| Domestic LLC dissolution fee | $60.00 | 37 of 48 |
| Data broker deletion right enacted | No | 22 of 51 |
| Data broker mandatory registration enacted | No | 5 of 51 |
| Right to delete enacted | No | 22 of 51 |
These are samples, not the full picture — 12 leading axes and 6 trailing axes exist in total for Wyoming alone. The complete, unabridged rollup — including axes deliberately not scored, and why — is on Wyoming Cross-Matrix Rankings.
Jurisdiction-native comparison matrices
Two matrices are jurisdiction-native rather than topic-native: they compare jurisdictions as jurisdictions rather than on a single topic axis. Both mix international jurisdictions with the US states that legislate on the same questions, and both are descriptive — they record what each jurisdiction publishes, without ranking or recommending.
- Havens by Purpose — What Each Jurisdiction Is Known For — a descriptive catalog of what each jurisdiction is known for, its purpose cluster, its closest substitute, and the jurisdictions it is commonly combined with.
- Residency and Citizenship Programs by Jurisdiction — program name, type, status, stated minimum, processing time, presence requirement, and tax-residency test, as each jurisdiction publishes them.
The topic-axis matrices covering the same roster live in their own silos: asset-protection trusts, LLC charging-order protection, beneficial-ownership transparency, and tax regimes.
More jurisdiction silos
No second full jurisdiction silo (history, facts, privacy, taxes, comparisons, and its own cited rankings artifact, matching Wyoming's) is live yet. When one is built, it appears here alongside Wyoming — this page states that plainly rather than implying a coverage this site doesn't yet have.
What this page does not claim
- This is not a recommendation engine. Leading or trailing on a given axis is a comparison position on cited data, not a verdict on which jurisdiction fits any particular reader's situation.
- The samples above are not the full dataset. Each jurisdiction's own rankings page is the complete, current source — this page shows a slice and links to the rest rather than duplicating it.
- This is not legal, tax, or financial advice. Consult your own attorney or tax advisor about your specific situation.
Not legal advice
Private Pierce is not a law firm.
Private Pierce does not provide legal advice.
This page is not a substitute for the advice of an attorney.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Wyoming the only jurisdiction here?
It's the first one built, not the only one planned. Private Pierce's jurisdiction silos start with Wyoming — the state Andrew Pierce operates a registered-agent business in and knows best — and this page's data shape is already multi-jurisdiction: adding New Mexico, Florida, or Texas later means adding that state's own cited rankings artifact here, not rebuilding this page.
How is 'leading' or 'trailing' decided?
Each jurisdiction's own rankings page documents its method in full — this page transcludes the same static, script-regenerated data rather than re-deriving or restating it. See the full methodology on each jurisdiction's rankings page, linked below.
Is this a place to pick which state to form an LLC in?
No. This page is a comparison landing, not a jurisdiction picker — it shows where each state's data leads or trails on specific, cited axes, not a single recommendation. Which state fits a given owner's situation depends on facts this page doesn't have; consult your own attorney or tax advisor.
Is this legal or financial advice?
No. Private Pierce is not a law firm. This page compares cited, published data; consult your own attorney or tax advisor about your specific situation.
Go deeper with source-backed research
Explore methodology, datasets, and related matrices cited on this page.