Freelance Rate Calculator

Start from the income you want to take home, then back into the hourly rate you need to charge. The billable percentage is the part of your working hours you can actually invoice — the rest is admin, marketing, and finding clients.

Your target & costs

Target take-home income / year ($)

What you want in your pocket after taxes.

Business expenses / year ($)

Tools, software, equipment, contractor help — anything you spend to run the business.

Hours you work / week

Billable share of hours (60%)

Most freelancers bill 50–70% of their hours — the rest is non-billable overhead.

Weeks off per year

Vacation, sick days, public holidays.

Your required rate

Hourly rate you need to charge

$65.48/hr

Across 1,008 billable hours/year.

Gross needed / year

$66,000

Billable hours / year

1,008

Per week (all hours)

$2,292

Per month (all hours)

$9,923

How to read this

This is the floor, not a flex. If the number feels high, the gap is usually billable percentage or weeks off, not your ambition. Raise your billable share (less admin, more repeat clients) and the rate drops fast.

Read freelancing guides