Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator
Start from the take-home pay you want and work backward to the hourly rate you actually need to charge — taxes, expenses, and unbillable hours included.
Software, gear, insurance — costs you cover before profit.
Why your hourly rate isn't your salary ÷ 2,080
A salaried employee is paid for 2,080 hours a year. A freelancer is not. You spend hours on sales, admin, invoicing, and unpaid revisions — none of it billable. You also pay self-employment tax and cover your own expenses. Pricing as if every hour is billable and tax-free is the fastest way to underearn.
How this calculator works
Start from the take-home pay you actually want. The tool grosses that up for income and self-employment tax, adds your annual business expenses, then divides by your real billable hours — weeks worked times billable hours per week. The result is the floor: the rate below which you're working at a loss against your own goal.
Use it as a floor, then add value
This is a cost-based minimum. Strong freelancers price on the value they deliver, not just their costs — so treat the number as the line you never go under, then charge more where the work justifies it.
Frequently asked
How many hours a week can a freelancer actually bill?+
Most full-time freelancers bill 20–30 hours of a 40-hour week. The rest goes to finding clients, admin, and unpaid work. The calculator defaults to 25 — adjust it to your reality.
What effective tax rate should I use?+
For many freelancers a combined federal income tax, self-employment tax, and state tax burden lands around 25–32% of net profit. Run the free self-employment tax calculator for a figure specific to your income and state.
Should I quote an hourly rate or a project price?+
Project pricing usually earns more, because it's tied to value rather than time. But you still need an hourly floor to know whether a fixed price is worth it — that's what this tool gives you.
Stop running the numbers by hand.
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