Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator

Calculate your ideal freelance hourly rate based on your target income.

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Hourly Rate

Enter your target income and work hours to find your rate.

Required hourly rate
$0
After expenses & taxes
Gross revenue needed
$0
Total billable hours
0
Hourly rate needed
$0
Monthly target
$0
Daily target (8 hrs)
$0
Project minimum (40 hrs)
$0

Worked example

With the default inputs shown below, this calculator returns the following results:

InputValue
Desired annual income ($)$100,000
Billable hours per week25
Weeks worked per year45
Business expenses ($/year)10000
Tax rate (%)25%
ResultValue
Required hourly rate$127/hr
Gross revenue needed$143,333
Total billable hours1125
Hourly rate needed$127/hr
Monthly target$11,944
Daily target (8 hrs)$1,019/day

Values shown are produced by this page in your browser; change any input to update them.

How to use the Hourly Rate

  1. Desired annual income ($) — default $100,000
  2. Billable hours per week — default 25
  3. Weeks worked per year — default 45
  4. Business expenses ($/year) — default 10000
  5. Tax rate (%) — default 25%
  6. Press Calculate to update the results instantly.

Frequently asked questions

Decide on target annual income, add business costs and tax, then divide by realistic billable hours. A $60,000 target with 1,200 billable hours is $50 an hour before costs.
Hourly is safer while you are learning the work. Fix a project price once you can estimate effort reliably, because clients prefer certainty.
Once a year at minimum, and whenever you are booked out for more than a month ahead. Existing clients can be moved up at contract renewal.

Sources & references