Freelance Rate Calculator
A freelance rate calculator turns the income you want to keep into the hourly rate you need to charge — adding business expenses and self-employment tax to your target, then dividing by real billable hours (working weeks minus holiday and sick time, times the percentage of your week clients pay for). It works in reverse too: enter the rate you charge and see the take-home it actually produces.
After tax and expenses — money in your pocket.
Baseline: SE tax (Social Security 12.4% + Medicare 2.9%).
Adjust to your real effective rate — brackets and deductions vary.
Software, insurance, equipment, accounting — out of revenue first.
Hours you are “at work”, before time off.
Time clients pay for. Admin, sales and email are the rest.
Unpaid time you take off.
Buffer for illness and downtime.
$79.54/hr
- Billable hours46 working weeks × 35h × 60% billable
- 966 h
- Revenue neededexpenses + net income + tax
- $76,838.25
- Business expenses
- $6,000.00
- Profit before tax
- $70,838.25
- Self-employment tax (15.3%)
- $10,838.25
- Net income to you
- $60,000.00
- Per month (revenue)
- $6,403.19
Data last verified 30 September 2026.Source: IRS / HMRC / CRA / ATO statutory baselines
How it works
- 01
Start from the income you want
Not revenue — money to keep. The calculator adds your business expenses and self-employment tax on top to find the revenue the business must actually generate.
- 02
Divide by real billable hours
Fifty-two weeks minus holiday and sick weeks, times your working week, times the share clients actually pay for. Admin, sales and invoicing are the difference between working hours and billable hours.
- 03
Get a rate you can defend
The recommended hourly rate falls straight out of the maths — every assumption is visible and editable, so you can test “what if I only bill 50% of my week” before quoting a client.
The tax field starts from published statutory baselines (US SE tax, UK NI, CA CPP, AU Medicare levy), not your personal effective rate — brackets, deductions and income level change it. Income tax on the remaining net income is not modelled. Treat every field as an editable assumption; this is a planning tool, not tax advice.
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate my freelance hourly rate?
The standard formula: hourly rate = (annual business expenses + target net income ÷ (1 − self-employment tax rate)) ÷ annual billable hours. Billable hours are 52 weeks minus vacation and sick weeks, multiplied by your working week, multiplied by the percentage of your week clients actually pay for — typically 50–70% once admin, sales and invoicing are counted.
Why is my freelance rate so much higher than my old salary?
As an employee, someone else covered your software, insurance, accounting, pension contributions, holiday and sick pay — and you were paid for all your hours, not just billable ones. A common rule of thumb is to double the hourly equivalent of your target salary, and this calculator does that arithmetic properly rather than by rule of thumb.
What is a realistic billable percentage of my week?
Most successful freelancers bill 50–70% of working hours. Under 50% usually means a pipeline or process problem rather than a pricing one. A full-time agency model often assumes 60%; solo sellers with heavy admin often land nearer 40–50%. The default here is 60% — edit it to match your reality.
Should I include unpaid time off in my rate?
Yes — that is the whole point of subtracting vacation and sick weeks before dividing. If you bill 46 working weeks but take five weeks off and earn nothing in them, your rate must carry the cost of those weeks or your real income falls short.
Does day rate or project pricing change this number?
No — the hourly figure is your floor. A day rate is simply the hourly rate times a standard working day (usually 7–8 billable hours), and a fixed project quote is the hourly rate times estimated hours plus a risk margin. Once the calculator gives you a defensible hourly number, all three pricing models derive from it.
Is the tax percentage here accurate for me?
The calculator starts from published statutory baselines — US self-employment tax at 15.3%, UK National Insurance, Canadian CPP, Australian Medicare levy — but your real effective rate depends on brackets, deductions and income. Treat the tax field as an editable assumption, not an authority.
Does this tool send my numbers anywhere?
No. Everything is calculated in your browser. Your income goals, rates and expenses never leave your device — there is no account, no upload and no server call.