Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator
Calculate the hourly rate you need to charge to reach your personal target income after business overhead, non-billable hours, and taxes.
About Billable Freelance Rates
Self-employed professionals must account for unpaid non-billable administrative time, business operating software, paid time off, and self-employment taxes when pricing client services.
Calculation Logic
Gross Revenue Target = (Target Net Income / (1 - Tax Rate)) + Overhead
Minimum Hourly Rate = Gross Revenue Target / Total Annual Billable Hours
Worked Example
To take home $75,000 net with $12,000 in overhead, a 25% tax rate, working 25 billable hours/week across 48 weeks (1,200 annual billable hours):
- Required gross business revenue: $112,000
- Required minimum hourly rate: $112,000 / 1,200 = $93.33/hour
Frequently Asked Questions
Why not bill 40 hours a week?
Freelancers spend 30% to 50% of their work week on non-billable tasks such as client acquisition, invoicing, project scoping, and administrative paperwork.
What counts as annual business overhead?
Software subscriptions, equipment depreciation, health insurance, legal and accounting fees, internet, and office space costs.
Does this include paid vacation time?
Setting the weeks worked field to 46 or 48 weeks builds 4 to 6 weeks of unpaid vacation and sick leave directly into your billing structure.
Should project pricing still use hourly rate calculations?
Yes. Value-based fixed project bids should use this minimum hourly rate as a baseline floor to avoid undercharging.
Calculate in three steps
- 1Enter your valuesUse the fields above and check the units shown beside each input.
- 2Run the calculationSelect Calculate to refresh the result with your latest values.
- 3Review or shareCompare the result, reset the form, print it, or share this page.