Freelance rate calc.
Work backwards from your take-home goal to an hourly, daily, or project rate. Accounts for taxes, benefits, billable percentage, and the 12 weeks a year you won't actually bill.
Your Target Income
Your Work Schedule
Your Costs
Your Minimum Hourly Rate
$116/hour
To earn $100,000 take-home per year
Your Rate Breakdown
Per Hour
$116
Per Day
$928
8 hours
Per Week
$3,247
billable
Per Month
$14,060
avg 4.33 wks
Project Rate Estimates
Small Project
$2,319
~20 hours
Medium Project
$9,277
~80 hours
Large Project
$23,193
~200 hours
Where Your $155,857 Gross Revenue Goes
Billable Hours / Year
1,344
Gross Revenue Needed
$155,857
Who this is for.
The math is the same whether you call yourself a freelancer, consultant, contractor, or solopreneur. If you set your own rates and want to know what to charge clients to actually earn a living after taxes and business costs, this is for you.
How it works.
The biggest mistake freelancers make is pricing themselves like employees. If your target is $75,000/year and you divide by 2,080 hours (the standard work year), you'd land on $36/hour, but that calculation ignores taxes, business expenses, benefits, and non-billable time. You'd actually take home around $22/hour.
This calculator works backwards from your real take-home goal. Enter what you want in your bank account, your actual working hours, your billable percentage, your tax rate, and your business costs. It tells you the minimum hourly rate that gets you there.
The formula.
· Gross Revenue = (Take-Home / (1 − Tax Rate)) + Expenses + Benefits
· Billable Hours = Hours/Week × Weeks/Year × Billable %
· Hourly Rate = Gross Revenue / Billable Hours
· simplified, consult a CPA for your jurisdiction
Freelancer vs. employee.
Converting a salary to a freelance rate isn't just dividing by 2,080. Employees get benefits worth 20-30% of their salary that freelancers have to buy themselves, plus the IRS charges self-employed workers an additional 7.65% in self-employment tax that employers normally split.
| · factor | · employee $75K | · freelancer |
|---|---|---|
| Salary / Revenue | $75,000 | Revenue |
| Billable hours | 2,080 (all paid) | ~1,200-1,500 |
| Taxes | ~22% | ~30% (+SE tax) |
| Benefits | Included | $8-15K/year |
| Expenses | Employer pays | $2-5K/year |
To match a $75,000 employee salary in actual take-home, a freelancer typically needs to charge around $75-85/hour.
FAQ.
What percentage of my work time is billable?+
Most freelancers bill 50-70% of their total work time. The rest goes to admin, marketing, client communication, proposals, invoicing, and unpaid work. New freelancers often start around 40-50% billable and improve as their pipeline stabilizes.
What tax rate should I use for freelance income?+
US freelancers typically pay 25-40% combined (federal income + state income + 15.3% self-employment tax, minus the deduction for half of SE tax). Your actual rate depends on income level, state, and deductions. When in doubt, use 30% as a working estimate and consult a CPA.
How many weeks per year should freelancers work?+
Most successful freelancers plan for 46-48 working weeks per year. That leaves 4-6 weeks for vacation, sick leave, and unexpected downtime. Planning for 52 weeks of full utilization is unrealistic and leads to burnout.
Should I charge hourly or per project?+
Hourly rates protect you on scope-creep-prone work. Project rates work better when scope is clear and you're efficient, you keep the upside. Many experienced freelancers quote projects (hourly rate × estimated hours × 20-30% buffer) and reserve hourly billing for retainers or clearly open-ended work.
What should I include in business expenses?+
Software subscriptions (Adobe, Notion, Slack), hardware (computer, peripherals, amortized), internet/phone, home-office deduction, professional insurance, accounting software, legal fees, professional development, and coaching. Don't forget the small recurring costs, they add up.
For the reasoning around the number, niche market research, drafting rate-increase emails, handling client pushback, see how to set your freelance rate with AI. Calculator for the math, AI for everything around the math.