What Should You Charge as a Freelancer?
Calculate your minimum viable hourly rate based on desired income, taxes, expenses, and billable hours.
Why Most Freelancers Undercharge
The biggest mistake freelancers make: dividing their desired salary by 2,080 hours. This ignores taxes (25-35%), healthcare ($5,000-12,000/year), business expenses, unbillable time (admin, marketing, invoicing), and vacation. A $75,000 salary equivalent requires charging $65-95/hour, not the $36/hour that naive division produces.
The Utilization Problem
Full-time employees are paid for 40 hours/week. Freelancers only bill for 50-70% of their working hours. The rest goes to admin, proposals, marketing, accounting, and business development. At 65% utilization (industry average), you have roughly 1,350 billable hours per year — not 2,080.
Setting Your Rate
This calculator works backwards from your desired take-home pay, adding taxes, expenses, and healthcare, then dividing by your realistic billable hours. The result is your floor — the minimum you must charge to sustain your lifestyle. Your market rate may be higher based on specialization, demand, and value delivered.
The Freelancers Union found that the average freelancer spends 33% of their work time on non-billable activities: invoicing, marketing, proposals, admin, and professional development. This is why utilization rate matters more than hourly rate.
