Start an LLC in Middlesex County, Massachusetts

Doing business in Middlesex County

Middlesex County is the business center of Massachusetts by count: 58,457 establishments in 2024, about one in every five in the Commonwealth, and 926,104 jobs. It is also the most populous county, with roughly 1.67 million residents, and its average annual pay of $113,704 is second only to Suffolk. The county runs from Cambridge, Somerville and Newton in the east to Lowell, Framingham and Marlborough to the north and west, so the companies we form here range from research spinouts to contractors and home health agencies.

Because the county is so large, it has two Registry of Deeds districts. Property in Lowell and the towns around it records at the Middlesex North office on Jackson Street in Lowell; most of the rest of the county, including Cambridge, Newton, Framingham and Waltham, records at Middlesex South on Cambridge Street. If your LLC will hold real estate, check which district covers the property's town before closing.

Middlesex County has no county business license. Trade names are filed as business certificates with each city or town clerk where you have an office, so a company with locations in Cambridge and Lowell files with both clerks. Startups planning to raise money often choose a corporation with up to 275,000 authorized shares for the $275 base fee.

Middlesex County Registry of Deeds

Massachusetts registries of deeds record deeds, mortgages and other land documents. If your LLC or corporation buys, sells or finances property in Middlesex County, the documents are recorded at the district office for the property's town. The registry does not form companies or issue business certificates.

Middlesex County business numbers

Establishments, employment and pay are from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages (private and public, all industries); population is the Census Bureau's 2024 estimate.

Sales tax and local permits in Middlesex County

Massachusetts charges one statewide sales and use tax of 6.25 percent (c. 64H, § 2), so a business in Middlesex County collects the same rate as one anywhere else in the Commonwealth. There is no county business license. Trade names are filed as business certificates with the clerk of each city or town where you have an office (c. 110, § 5), and building, zoning and board of health permits come from the town.

Forming the company, step by step

• Search the name on the Corporations Division's records and pick an LLC or corporate ending.
• File the Certificate of Organization ($500 for an LLC) or Articles of Organization ($275 for a corporation with up to 275,000 shares) with the Secretary of the Commonwealth.
• Name a resident or registered agent with a Massachusetts street address. Ours is $199 a year.
• Get an EIN from the IRS, then open a business bank account in the exact registered name.
• File a business certificate with your city or town clerk if you will trade under a different name.
• File the annual report each year: $500 for an LLC on its anniversary, $100 online for a corporation.