Hourly Rate for Freelancers Calculator
Work backwards from the income you need to the hourly rate you must charge, with tax, expenses and unbillable time included.
Every figure below is labelled in the currency you pick. Amounts are not converted — enter your own figures in that currency. To convert an amount at today’s rate, use the currency calculator.
Billable hours are not working hours
A full-time freelancer rarely bills more than 25–30 hours a week. Quoting, invoicing, admin, marketing and unpaid revisions eat the rest. Setting a rate by dividing a target salary by 2,080 hours is the single most common reason freelancers earn less than they did as employees.
What this page needs from you
This page asks for target annual income, business expenses, working weeks, billable hours per week in h and tax and contributions as a percentage. From those it returns rate to charge in $/h, together with billable hours per year, gross revenue needed, day rate (8 h) and equivalent employee salary. Every figure updates as you type, and nothing you enter leaves your browser.
Hours are decimals, not clock time
One hour and thirty minutes is 1.5 payroll hours, not 1.30. Entering the clock reading understates the shift by twelve minutes, and a 45-minute unpaid break is 0.75 rather than 0.45. This single confusion is the most common error in manual timesheets.
Overtime is counted by the week
Under the US Fair Labor Standards Act, overtime is owed on hours above 40 in a fixed seven-day workweek, and hours cannot be averaged across two weeks of a fortnightly pay period. Several states add a daily threshold on top: California pays overtime above eight hours in a day and double time above twelve, and Alaska, Nevada and Colorado apply daily rules in some industries.
The formula
Rate = (target ÷ (1 − tax) + expenses) ÷ billable hours
Every result on this page comes from this formula. Nothing is rounded until the final display, so figures match a spreadsheet to the cent.
How to use the Hourly Rate for Freelancers Calculator
- Fill in each field with your own figures — the defaults are only there as an example.
- The result updates as you type, so there is no button to press.
- Check the breakdown under the main result for the supporting numbers.
- Use the copy button to take the result with you, or share the link to reload the same inputs.
Hourly Rate for Freelancers Calculator — frequently asked questions
Is this hourly rate for freelancers calculator free to use?
Yes. Every calculator on the site is free, needs no sign-up, and runs entirely in your browser, so your figures never leave your device.
How accurate is the result?
The maths is exact for the formula shown on the page. Accuracy in the real world depends on your inputs and on assumptions the formula cannot see, so treat the output as a well-grounded estimate rather than a quote.
Can I use it on my phone?
Yes. The page is responsive, weighs a few kilobytes and works offline once loaded, so it behaves the same on a phone as on a desktop.
What people search for
This page answers each of these searches. They are the exact phrases visitors use to find the hourly rate for freelancers calculator.
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About this calculator
Written and reviewed by The Samsung Calculator editorial team. Every calculator is written against a published formula, reviewed against at least one independent reference implementation, and dated when it changes.
Last reviewed September 14, 2026 · Calculation runs client-side · No data collected · Report an error