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Freelance hourly rate calculator

Work out the hourly rate you need from the take-home pay you want: add your business expenses and 2026 self-employment and income tax, then divide by the hours you can actually bill.

Example filled in: a full-time single filer who wants $50,000 a year after tax (worked example 1 below). General information, not tax advice.

Method from our guide: How Much to Set Aside for Taxes When Self-Employed (2026 Worked Example)

Your money

What you want to keep after federal and state income tax and self-employment tax.

Example: replace with your own. Software, insurance, equipment, phone, internet, accountant.

Example: replace with your own. Enter 0 if your state has no income tax. Your state tax agency has the real rates.

Your time

Example: replace with your own. Admin, sales and invoicing are not billable. We found no reliable published average, so track a month of your own time.

A margin on top of break-even. 15% means the break-even rate ÷ 0.85.

Quote a project (optional)
Quote a project (optional)

Used only for the printed quote: your rate × these hours. Add room for revisions.

Your break-even hourly rate

$67.10

The lowest price to accept. Below this, the job loses money.

Your hourly rate

$79.00 · $632 per day (8 billable hours)

Your break-even rate plus your buffer, rounded up to the next $1. For a project, multiply it by the hours you expect.

  • Taxes, as a share of profit24%
  • Buffer a year before tax, if you bill every planned hour$13,133.37
How the numbers are worked out
Take-home you want$50,000.00
Self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare)$9,337.18
Federal income tax, single filer, 2026$4,102.15
State income tax: 4% of profit$2,643.31
Profit needed before tax$66,082.63
Business expenses$8,000.00
Revenue needed a year$74,082.63
Break-even: revenue ÷ 1,104 billable hours (46 weeks × 40 h × 60%)$67.10
÷ (1 − 15%) before rounding$78.95
Your hourly rate (rounded up to $1)$79.00

How it works

The method, step by step

Market rates tell you the ceiling. Your costs tell you the floor. Every number above is an example: replace it with your own.

  1. From take-home to profit

    The calculator finds the profit that leaves your take-home after self-employment tax (15.3% of 92.35% of profit), federal income tax for a single filer in 2026 (after the standard deduction and the QBI deduction) and your state’s share.

  2. Add your expenses

    Profit plus business expenses is the revenue you need in a year: software, insurance, equipment, phone and the accountant all come out of what clients pay.

  3. Divide by billable hours

    (52 − weeks off) × hours a week × billable share. Only billable hours earn money, so revenue ÷ billable hours is your break-even rate.

  4. Add a buffer

    Rate = break-even ÷ (1 − buffer), rounded up to the next $1. A 15% buffer means dividing by 0.85; it covers slow months and savings. The day rate is 8 billable hours.

Example: replace with your own

These inputs in the calculator and the worked examples have no published source behind them. Use your own numbers.

  • Business expenses: $8,000 a year
  • State income tax: 4% of profit (yours could be 0% or more)
  • Billable share: 60% of hours worked (no reliable published average found)
  • The take-home goal ($50,000), weeks off (6), hours a week (40) and buffer (15%) are choices, not market figures

Worked examples

3 hourly rates, worked out with this calculator

Each example is worked out by the calculator above, with the same formula. Open one to see every line, then change it to your own numbers.

  1. Example 1

    Full-time freelancer

    The example filled in above: a single filer who wants $50,000 a year after tax, with $8,000 of business expenses and 4% state income tax. Six weeks off, 40 hours a week, 60% of them billable, and a 15% buffer.

    Your break-even hourly rate
    $67.10
    Your hourly rate
    $79.00$632 per day (8 billable hours)
    Taxes, as a share of profit
    24%
    Buffer a year before tax, if you bill every planned hour
    $13,133.37

    Taxes and expenses push the revenue you need well above the take-home you want, and only 60% of your hours earn it.

    Open example 1 in the calculator

  2. Example 2

    Part-time, no state income tax

    Take-home goal $30,000, expenses $3,000, a state with no income tax, 4 weeks off and 25 hours a week, 70% of them billable. Same 15% buffer.

    Your break-even hourly rate
    $47.21
    Your hourly rate
    $56.00$448 per day (8 billable hours)
    Taxes, as a share of profit
    18%
    Buffer a year before tax, if you bill every planned hour
    $7,383.88

    Less profit means less tax per dollar, and a higher billable share spreads the costs over more of your hours.

    Open example 2 in the calculator

  3. Example 3

    Full-time, half the hours billable

    The freelancer from example 1, but only half of the 40 hours a week are billable: more time goes on sales, proposals and admin.

    Your break-even hourly rate
    $80.52
    Your hourly rate
    $95.00$760 per day (8 billable hours)
    Taxes, as a share of profit
    24%
    Buffer a year before tax, if you bill every planned hour
    $13,317.37

    The same take-home now has to come from fewer billable hours, so the rate goes up. Track a month of your own time before you settle on a share.

    Open example 3 in the calculator

Market rates

The 2026 tax figures behind this calculator

Tax year 2026, single filer with no other income. The 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax above $200,000 is left out, and so are the QBI deduction’s extra limits at higher incomes and its minimum deduction for active businesses. There is no reliable published benchmark for freelance hourly rates, so this tool has no market range: your rate comes from your own goal and costs. General information, not tax advice.

WhatRangeSource
Self-employment tax rate15.3% (12.4% Social Security + 2.9% Medicare)IRS
Share of net earnings it applies to92.35%IRS
No self-employment tax below$400 of net earningsIRS
Social Security wage base, 2026$184,500 (Medicare has no cap)IRS
Standard deduction, single filer, 2026$16,100IRS
Qualified business income (QBI) deduction20% of QBI, limited to 20% of taxable income (figured before this deduction) minus net capital gainIRS, IRS
10% bracket, single filerTaxable income up to $12,400IRS
12% bracket$12,400–$50,400IRS
22% bracket$50,400–$105,700IRS
24% bracket$105,700–$201,775IRS
32% bracket$201,775–$256,225IRS
35% bracket$256,225–$640,600IRS
37% bracketOver $640,600IRS

Sources

  1. IRS: Self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes) (page dated Oct 30, 2026; read Nov 8, 2026)
  2. IRS: Topic no. 554, Self-employment tax (page dated Sep 24, 2026; read Nov 8, 2026)
  3. IRS: Instructions for Schedule SE (Form 1040) (2026) (page dated Nov 4, 2026; read Nov 8, 2026)
  4. IRS: IR-2025-103: tax inflation adjustments for tax year 2026 (page dated Oct 9, 2025; read Nov 8, 2026)
  5. IRS: Qualified business income deduction (page dated Oct 30, 2026; read Nov 8, 2026)
  6. IRS: Instructions for Form 8995 (2025) (page dated Apr 30, 2026; tax year 2025, the newest final instructions; used for how the taxable-income limit is figured; read Nov 8, 2026)

Cost guides publish estimates from their own marketplace or listing data, not audited statistics. US figures only.

Related

Questions

Pricing questions

How do I calculate my freelance hourly rate?

Start from the take-home pay you want, add your business expenses and taxes to get the revenue you need, and divide by the hours you can actually bill, not the hours you work. Then add a buffer for slow months.

How many hours can a freelancer bill?

Fewer than you work. Admin, sales, invoicing and learning take time, and you need weeks off. We found no reliable published average, so track a few weeks of your own time and use your real billable share.

How much should I set aside for taxes?

For a single filer with $48,000 of profit in 2026, federal self-employment and income tax come to about 19% of profit (worked out step by step in our tax guide). With state tax and a cushion, a common rule of thumb is 25–30% of profit. Confirm your own numbers with a tax professional.

What is self-employment tax?

Social Security and Medicare for people who work for themselves: 15.3% of 92.35% of your net earnings, owed once those reach $400. The Social Security part (12.4%) stops at $184,500 of earnings in 2026. Half of the tax is deductible when you figure income tax.

Should I charge a day rate or a project fee instead?

You can. Many freelancers quote per project and keep the hourly rate behind the scenes: multiply your rate by the hours you expect, then add room for revisions. This calculator shows a day rate of 8 billable hours.

Why is my rate so much higher than an employee’s wage?

You pay both halves of Social Security and Medicare, your own equipment and insurance, and nobody pays you for holidays, sick days or unbillable hours. The difference is what keeps the business running.

Does this work if I’m married or have other income?

Not exactly. The calculator assumes a single filer with no other income, the standard deduction and the QBI deduction. Married filers, people with a W-2 job, dependents or large deductions will get different taxes, so treat the result as a starting point and check it with a tax professional.

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