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Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator
Estimate a starting hourly rate based on your annual earnings goal, business expenses and the hours you can actually bill clients. All calculations stay in your browser.
ESTIMATED BREAK-EVEN TARGET RATE
per billable hour, before personal taxes and profit beyond your earnings target
How the hourly rate is calculated
First, add the annual earnings you want to generate and the business expenses you must cover. Then estimate your realistic number of billable hours:
Billable hours = working weeks × working hours per week × billable percentage ÷ 100.
Hourly rate = (annual earnings target + annual business expenses) ÷ billable hours.
With example inputs of $48,000 annual earnings, $6,000 annual expenses, 46 working weeks, 35 working hours a week and 65% billable time, your required annual revenue is $54,000 spread over 1,046.5 billable hours. That suggests about $51.60 per billable hour as a starting baseline, before considering taxes and further uncertainty.
Why you shouldn't divide by every hour you work
Freelancers spend time on proposals, learning, marketing, admin, bookkeeping and unpaid client communication. Billing 100% of your working time is rarely realistic. A lower billable percentage increases the rate needed to support the same earnings target.
Convert the rate into a project quote
Break the scope into tasks, estimate billable hours and multiply them by your chosen rate. Then separately consider direct project expenses, contingency, discounts, taxes and deposit terms. Use the free project pricing calculator for the full estimate, or read how to price a freelance project.
Important limitations
- This is a planning estimate, not a prediction of market demand or what clients will accept.
- Personal income tax, corporate tax, benefits, exchange rates and payment platform fees are not calculated.
- The formula assumes a stable yearly workload; real bookings vary.
Educational material, not financial, accounting, tax or legal advice.