FREE FREELANCE CALCULATOR

Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator

Find out how much you should charge per hour based on your income goal, expenses, taxes, working schedule and billable time.

Your details

Adjust the numbers below to match your situation.

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Recommended hourly rate

$70.31

per billable hour

Yearly revenue needed

$81,000.00

Monthly revenue target

$6,750.00

Billable hours/year

1,152

Working weeks/year

48

How is your freelance rate calculated?

Your hourly rate needs to cover more than your salary. Freelancers also need to account for taxes, business expenses, vacation time and hours spent on non-billable work such as marketing, administration and finding clients.

Your current estimate

To reach a take-home income of $60,000.00, your business needs to generate approximately $81,000.00 per year. With about 1,152 billable hours available, your estimated minimum rate is $70.31 per hour.

How to calculate a freelance hourly rate

Freelancers cannot usually bill every hour they work. Time spent finding clients, writing proposals, answering email, managing finances and improving skills still needs to be funded by the hours that are actually billable.

A useful starting point is to estimate the total yearly revenue your business needs and divide that number by the billable hours you realistically expect to sell during the year.

Basic formula

Required yearly revenue ÷ yearly billable hours = minimum hourly rate

Why business expenses matter

Your freelance revenue may need to pay for software, equipment, accounting, internet, marketing, insurance, payment processing and other operating costs before it becomes personal income.

Why billable percentage matters

Someone working forty hours per week may only have twenty or twenty-five hours of client-billable work. Using all forty hours in a pricing calculation could produce a rate that is too low to support the business.

Frequently asked questions

Should my freelance rate equal an employee hourly wage?

Usually not. A freelancer normally has additional business costs and unpaid non-billable time that an employee may not need to cover directly.

Should I include vacation time?

Yes. If you do not earn client revenue while taking time off, including expected vacation or other non-working weeks can make your estimate more realistic.

Is the calculated rate the exact amount I must charge?

No. The result is a planning estimate. Market demand, specialization, experience, client value and project risk can justify a different rate.

Related resources

What Are Billable Hours?How Much Should I Charge?Project Price CalculatorFreelance Income Calculator