Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator
Your hourly rate has to cover more than the time spent on client work. This calculator spreads your income goal and business expenses across the hours you can actually bill.
Minimum hourly rate
Find the hourly rate your available billable time needs to support.
Before income tax. Billable hours exclude admin and marketing time.
How it works
Enter your own figures above. The result updates as you change the inputs.
Formula
(desired annual income + annual business expenses) ÷ (working weeks × billable hours per week)
Example
For a $70,000 income goal, $12,000 in expenses, 46 working weeks, and 25 billable hours a week, the minimum is about $71.30 per billable hour.
Tips for using the result
- Use billable hours rather than every hour you work. Admin, sales, and learning time are usually not billable.
- Add room for taxes, benefits, unpaid leave, and profit when setting your final client rate.
- Revisit the estimate when your expenses or available hours change.
Planning estimates only. This tool does not calculate taxes or provide financial advice. Amounts display in USD; use the same currency for every monetary input.