Freelancer Hourly Rate Calculator
The rate you need to charge to hit your income goal after expenses and taxes.
Every calculation runs locally in your browser. Nothing you enter here is sent to a server or stored anywhere.
Rate you need to charge
$86.38/hr
Gross income needed
$93,333
before expenses
Total revenue needed
$99,333
incl. business expenses
Billable hours / year
1,150 hrs
For informational and educational purposes only — not financial, investment, or tax advice, and not a substitute for consulting a qualified professional about your specific situation. TrueMeasureKit is not liable for decisions made based on these results. See our Terms of Service.
Why billable hours are always less than total hours
The single biggest mistake in freelance rate-setting is dividing a salary target by 2,080 hours (a full 40-hour work year) — real freelancers spend a large share of their time on unbilled work: proposals, admin, marketing, client communication, and time off. Billing 20–30 hours a week, not 40, is typical even for a busy freelancer, which is why this calculator asks for billable hours specifically rather than total working hours — using the wrong number here is the most common way freelancers end up underpricing their time.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my target hourly rate higher than my desired salary divided by hours?
Because freelancers absorb costs an employer normally covers — payroll taxes, benefits, downtime between projects, admin, and marketing — and typically have far fewer billable hours than total working hours in a year.
What counts as billable versus non-billable time?
Billable time is work you invoice a client for directly. Non-billable time — proposals, admin, marketing, professional development — still has to be paid for somehow, which is why it factors into the rate calculation.