Freelance/Self-Employed Rate Calculator
Find out exactly what to charge per hour or day to hit your target take-home income — after tax, overhead, and the hours you can't actually bill a client for.
Target annual take-home
Hours worked per week
How this calculator works
Enter the annual take-home income you actually want to end up with, your effective tax rate, any fixed annual business overhead (software, insurance, equipment), and how you work — hours per week, weeks per year, and your billable utilization rate (the share of working time a client actually pays for, after admin, proposals, and marketing). The calculator works backward from your goal to the hourly and daily rate you need to charge — the opposite direction from most rate calculators, which only tell you what a given rate earns.
Frequently asked questions
Where does the calculation come from?
Required gross revenue = (target take-home ÷ (1 − tax rate)) + overhead. Required hourly rate = required gross revenue ÷ billable hours per year. This is the standard reverse rate-setting formula used across freelance business guidance, not something invented for this calculator.
Does this model the real U.S. self-employment tax structure?
No — this uses a single effective tax rate you provide, not the actual self-employment tax bracket structure (15.3% self-employment tax on 92.35% of net earnings, plus income tax brackets). If you want your real effective rate, estimate it from a prior year's tax return or a dedicated tax calculator, then enter that number here.
What is "billable utilization rate" and why isn't it 100%?
It's the share of your working time a client actually pays for — the rest goes to proposals, admin, invoicing, and marketing. Freelance business guidance commonly cites 60-80% as a realistic range; assuming 100% is the single most common mistake in rate-setting, and it means working for free during every hour of unpaid overhead.
Is this financial or tax advice?
No. This is not financial or tax advice. Results are an estimate based on the numbers you enter. Confirm your actual tax obligations with a tax professional or the relevant tax authority.
Part of Finance Calculators