Freelance Rate Calculator

This calculator helps freelancers and contractors set an hourly rate that actually covers their target take-home income, business costs, and taxes — not just a guess based on what others charge.

It adds your desired income and annual overhead together, grosses that up to account for self-employment tax, then divides by your realistic billable hours per year (hours per week times weeks worked) to find your minimum hourly rate.

Example: To take home $80,000 with $5,000 in overhead, a 30% tax rate, billing 30 hours/week for 48 weeks (1,440 hours/year), you'd need to charge about $84/hour to hit your target.