Freelancing

Freelance Rate Calculator

Your rate has to cover taxes, expenses, vacation, and the hours you cannot bill. This works backward from your annual target to the hourly rate that makes the math work.

Last updated June 2, 2026

Use the result as a floor. If it is far above your market, adjust the target, billable hours, or costs.

When to use this calculator

  • You need a minimum hourly rate to hit an annual take-home target.
  • You are quoting clients and want a floor, not a vibe.
  • You bill part-time alongside a W-2 and need real billable hours.

Inputs you need

  • Desired annual take-home, annual business expenses, billable hours per week, vacation weeks, tax reserve.

Expenses people forget

  • Non-billable sales, proposals, revisions, and admin (add to hours or rate).
  • Software, insurance, payment processing, and unpaid gaps between projects.
  • Client acquisition time before the first invoice.

Your numbers

Example values are shown so you can see how it works. Replace them with your own.

Minimum hourly rate
$69.33/hr
  • Gross billings needed (year)$83,200
  • Billable hours (year)1,200 hrs
  • Required hourly rate$69.33/hr
Worth testing
Probably worth testing

This is the rate implied by your target, not a market quote. Compare it to what clients actually pay in your niche.

Suggested next steps

  1. Compare the rate to recent quotes you have won or lost.
  2. If it is too high, raise billable hours or adjust the income target.
  3. Set aside the tax reserve from each payment, not at year end.

Estimates only, based on the numbers you enter. Nothing is saved to the page address. Tax figures are rough planning numbers, not filing advice.

Assumptions this calculator makes

  • Billable hours exclude sales and admin unless you add them to hours.
  • Tax reserve is a rough set-aside, not tax advice.

This is an estimate, not advice

Every result here is a rough model based only on the numbers you enter. Sidequity is an informational tool and does not provide professional, tax, legal, investment, or financial advice, and it makes no income guarantees. Any tax set-aside is a planning placeholder, not a tax calculation.

How to interpret the result

The rate is a floor for pricing, not a recommendation to charge exactly that.

Illustrative: $60,000 take-home with 20 billable hours a week often implies a much higher hourly rate than people guess, because taxes, expenses, and vacation hours are in the denominator.

What this calculator does not know

  • What the market will pay in your niche today.
  • Scope creep on fixed-price projects.

Common mistakes

  • Assuming 40 billable hours per week.
  • Skipping vacation weeks.
  • Ignoring expenses.
  • Quoting hourly without counting sales and admin time.

Suggested next steps

  • Compare required rate to recent quotes you won or lost.
  • Use project pricing calculator for flat fees.
  • Read is freelancing worth it and how to price your time.

Estimates only. Not tax, legal, or financial advice.

Frequently asked questions

Is this guaranteed income?

No. It is an estimate from your inputs. Real results vary.

What tax reserve should I use?

Many people start around 20 to 30 percent of profit as a planning set-aside. Confirm with a tax professional.

Why is net hourly low?

Fees, costs, and unpaid time all reduce what you keep per hour.

How do I improve the result?

Raise prices, cut costs, or work more efficiently before adding more hours.

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Freelance Rate Calculator last updated June 2, 2026. Back to all calculators.