Quick Calculators

Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator

Find out exactly how much you need to charge per hour to cover expenses, take vacations, and hit your annual income goals.

Financial Goals

Time & Productivity

*Billable % is the amount of time you spend doing actual paid client work, instead of admin, marketing, or emails. (Standard is 50-60%)

Minimum Hourly Rate

$0.00/hr
Total Required Revenue$0.00
Total Billable Hours/Yr0

Charge at least this amount per hour to cover your business expenses, achieve your profit margin, and hit your target income, while still taking your designated weeks off.

Why You Need a Strategic Freelance Rate

One of the biggest mistakes new freelancers make is setting their hourly rate by simply dividing their desired salary by 2,080 hours. Unlike salaried employees, freelancers have to pay for their own health insurance, retirement, software, marketing, and self-employment taxes—plus, you won't be billing clients for 100% of your working hours.

How to Use This Tool

Input your target annual salary and realistic business expenses. Most importantly, accurately estimate your billable hours (time actually spent on client work) versus non-billable administrative time. The calculator will output the exact minimum hourly rate you need to charge to reach your financial goals.

Frequently Asked Questions

A billable hour is time spent actively working on a client's project that you can charge them for. Administrative tasks, marketing, and invoicing are non-billable hours.
Most successful freelancers aim for a billable utilization rate between 60% and 75%. The remaining 25-40% of your time will go toward running the business itself.
Yes, you should account for both income tax and self-employment tax. Freelancers typically need to set aside 25% to 30% of their gross income for taxes.