Freelance Rate Calculator
Calculate the hourly rate you need to charge to hit your target annual income.
Results
Freelancers and self-employed professionals cannot just divide their salary goal by 2,080 hours because not every hour is billable. Between admin tasks, sales, invoicing and sick days, most freelancers bill only 25-30 hours per week. This calculator accounts for your realistic billable hours and time off to show the hourly rate you actually need to charge.
Explore all our work hours calculator tools, or browse the full time and date converters & calculators.
Frequently asked questions
Divide your target annual income by total billable hours per year. With a $80,000 target, 30 billable hours per week and 4 weeks off: $80,000 ÷ (30 × 48) = $55.56 per hour.
Freelancers spend 10-15 hours per week on non-billable work: marketing, invoicing, admin, sales calls, learning and project management. If you work 40 hours but bill 30, your billable utilization is 75%.
Self-employed workers pay both employer and employee taxes (about 30% in the US). Add 30-40% on top of your desired take-home pay. If you want $80,000 after taxes, target $110,000-$115,000 gross.
It varies by industry: web developers $75-150/hr, graphic designers $50-100/hr, consultants $100-300/hr, writers $30-80/hr. Your rate should cover taxes, benefits, equipment and profit margin.
Plan for at least 4-6 weeks off: 2-3 weeks vacation, 1 week sick/personal, 1-2 weeks for slow periods or gaps between contracts. Freelancers without PTO need to build time off into their rate.