Freelance Rate Calculator
Stop guessing. Plug in your real numbers and find the hourly rate that actually covers your life, your costs, and your taxes.
Your Baseline Income Need
The minimum annual take-home income you need to cover rent, groceries, insurance, debt, savings, and life.
Your Real Billable Hours
You're not billing every hour you work. Admin, marketing, gaps between projects, and time off all eat into billable time.
960 billable hours/year(48wks × 40hrs = 1,920 total, minus 50% non-billable)
Business Costs
Software, hardware, insurance, accountant fees, coworking space, courses — everything it costs to run your business annually.
Tax
Self-employment tax (15.3%) plus federal & state income tax. 25–30% is typical, 35% for high earners.
Profit Buffer
Breathing room for slow quarters, bad clients, and unexpected costs. 10–20% is sensible.
Your hourly rate
$116
per hour
Daily (8hr)
$931
Monthly
$9,310
How it breaks down
The Formula
This calculator uses the methodology from our guide How to Set Your Freelance Hourly Rate. Every input is adjustable — tweak the numbers until they match your real situation.