The least populous state invented the business structure used to start more American companies than any other
- Wyoming passed the first LLC law in US history, 1977
- Every state had one by 1996
- Zero personal or corporate income tax, #1 on tax competitiveness rankings
- The Equality State, 44th to join the Union (1890)
How Wyoming’s digital economy grew
Wyoming Territory grants women the vote
The first permanent law of its kind by any government — 51 years before the 19th Amendment.
The invention of the LLC
Hamilton Brothers Oil Company had run operations abroad, including in Panama, under entities offering both limited liability and pass-through taxation — something no US business form provided at the time. American companies had to choose: a corporation, with liability protection but double taxation, or a partnership, with pass-through taxation but personal liability. The company’s lawyers drafted legislation to close that gap, shopped it to Alaska where it failed twice, and Wyoming passed it in 1977, creating an entirely new category of business entity.
For over a decade the law was close to a dead letter — the IRS wouldn’t say how it would tax an LLC. Revenue Ruling 88-76 finally blessed partnership-style treatment in 1988, and states adopted LLC statutes in a rush through the early 1990s. By 1996 every state had one.
Wyoming’s modern business playground
Wyoming has no individual or corporate income tax, no estate tax, and ranks #1 nationally on the Tax Foundation’s tax competitiveness index. It offers dynasty trusts lasting up to 1,000 years and strong LLC-owner privacy, competing directly with Delaware and Nevada for the same formation business. By one 2024 measure it had actually overtaken Delaware: 378 new companies per 1,000 adult residents, against a national average of 36.
How Wyoming businesses buy websites
LLC formation gets the headlines, but most of Wyoming’s own businesses are the trades and shops serving a state with fewer than 600,000 residents spread across a huge area.
Trades and home services
Wyoming towns are far apart — say plainly which ones you actually serve.
Professional and B2B services
A state built on legal innovation rewards clarity about exactly what you do.
Tourism and shops
Yellowstone and the state’s parks draw real visitors — a clear, findable site matters here.
How well do you know Wyoming’s digital economy?
3 quick questions. Get all 3 right and you win a 10% off discount code. Every answer is somewhere on this page.
Wyoming quiz · 1 of 3
In what year did Wyoming pass the first Limited Liability Company law in US history?
Why FastSites works here
A state that invented an entirely new kind of business entity understands the value of a clean, simple structure done right. A clear one-page site, live in days, at a published price, is that same instinct for a small business.