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Minimum Rate
$99.40/hr
Break-even
Suggested Rate
$119.29/hr
20% buffer
Premium Rate
$149.11/hr
Target rate
Gross Income Needed
$119,286
Annual Billable Hours
1200 hrs
Freelance Rate Calculator reverse-engineers your minimum, suggested (20% buffer), and premium hourly rate from your desired net annual income, effective tax rate, annual expenses, billable hours per week, and weeks worked per year.
Freelance Rate Calculator is a high-performance utility designed to help users streamline their workflow. Built with modern web technologies, it ensures fast processing times and high-quality outputs directly in your browser.
Gross income needed = desired net income ÷ (1 − effective tax rate) + annual expenses. Total billable hours = billable hours/week × weeks worked/year. Minimum rate = gross income needed ÷ total billable hours. Suggested rate = minimum × 1.2 (20% slow-period buffer). Premium rate = minimum × 1.5. The 30% effective tax rate is a conservative US estimate combining self-employment tax (15.3% on 92.35% of net SE income) plus federal and state income tax. Actual rates vary by income level, deductions, and state.
Minimum rate = (desired net income ÷ (1 − tax rate) + annual expenses) ÷ (billable hours/week × weeks/year). Most freelancers bill 20–30 hours per week even if they work 40, due to admin, marketing, and unpaid tasks.
US freelancers should generally set aside 25–35% of gross income for taxes. This covers self-employment tax (15.3% on 92.35% of net SE income) plus federal and state income tax. Contribute to a SEP-IRA to reduce taxable income.
On average, full-time freelancers bill 20–30 hours per week. The rest goes to client communication, invoicing, marketing, professional development, and non-billable project work.
Raise rates at least annually to keep pace with inflation (3–5% minimum). Raise rates significantly (20–50%) when you have a waitlist of clients, when you acquire specialized expertise, or when moving up-market.
Convert any hourly wage to annual, monthly, bi-weekly, and weekly salary instantly.
Calculate self-employment tax (SE tax), federal income tax, and quarterly estimated payments for freelancers and 1099 workers.
Find out what percentage of US earners you rank above — individual or household.