Freelance Rates

Freelance rates: start from what you need to earn

An employee's hourly pay is a salary divided by the hours in a working year. A freelancer's rate has to cover much more: the business expenses an employer would normally pay, the taxes on your profit, unpaid holidays and sick days, and the hours spent finding clients, quoting and invoicing. A rate built from those facts is a floor you can defend. A rate copied from someone else may be below it without you noticing.

The method is short. Take the income you want to keep after tax, divide it by (1 − your tax rate) to get the profit you need before tax, add your yearly business expenses and divide by the hours you can really bill in a year. With a $72,000 goal, a 20% tax rate entered by you, $12,000 of expenses and 30 billable hours a week over 50 weeks, the rate is $102,000 ÷ 1,500 hours = $68 an hour, or $544 for an 8-hour day.

What is in this section

The freelance rate calculator applies that method to your own numbers and gives hourly, day and 40-hour project equivalents. The guide on setting your freelance rate explains each input, shows how strongly billable hours move the result and how to compare your figure with the market. The comparison of hourly and project pricing explains who carries the risk in each model and how to turn your hourly rate into a fixed quote with a contingency you choose.

About the tax rate

We never fill in a tax rate for you. What you owe depends on your state, filing status, deductions and the kinds of tax that apply to self-employment income, and those are questions for a tax professional. The calculator treats the rate you enter as a flat share of profit — a planning simplification, not a tax calculation. If you are unsure, try a few rates and see how much the hourly figure changes.