Freelance Rate Calculator

Enter your desired annual take-home, how many hours you expect to bill, and a combined tax + expense cushion. We’ll reverse-engineer a recommended hourly rate.

Runs in your browserNo signupFormula shown below

Your goal

$

Your time

hrs

wks

Your cushion

%

Recommended hourly rate

—

to keep — a year after your cushion

Where each gross dollar goes

Take-home —Taxes + expenses —
Annual billable hours—
Required annual gross—
Implied daily rate (8 hrs)—
Gross per billable week—

Educational estimate. Your real rate depends on your taxes, expenses, and market.

You might also wantCompare this rate to a salary

How we calculate

  • Annual billable hours = hours/week × weeks/year.
  • Required gross = take-home ÷ (1 − cushion%).
  • Recommended hourly rate = required gross ÷ annual billable hours.
  • The cushion is a single percentage you choose for taxes, benefits you self-fund, and overhead — not a personalized tax computation.

Before you rely on this

Not tax, legal, or financial advice. This is an educational estimate. Real tax rates depend on filing status, state, deductions, self-employment tax, and more. Confirm with a qualified professional.

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