Calcvers
Freelance Rate Calculator
Money & Planning
Generated
September 24, 2026
Required hourly rate
$56.74/hr
$60,000 target after 25% taxes
Your inputs
- Currency
- USD ($)
- Target annual income
- 60,000
- Billable weeks per year
- 47 weeks
- Billable hours per week
- 30 h
- Annual business expenses
- 0
- Tax & self-employment rate
- 25 %
Breakdown
- Daily rate (8h)
- $453.90
- Weekly billing
- $1,702.13
- Revenue to invoice
- $80,000
What drives your rate
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Target income | $60,000 |
| Taxes | $20,000 |
| Expenses | $0.00 |
What this means
Freelance pricing works backwards from the income you want. First, because you pay taxes on what you earn, you need a higher gross revenue than your target — roughly target ÷ (1 − tax rate). Add your business expenses, and that's the total you must invoice. Divide by your billable hours (billable weeks × billable hours per week), and you have the rate. The daily and weekly figures make it easier to quote projects: the trick is being honest about billable hours — few freelancers bill a full 40-hour week.
Recommendations
- Be conservative with billable hours — admin, emails, prospecting and unpaid work eat 20–40% of your time.
- Raise rates rather than working more hours: beyond ~40 billable hours a week, your rate is too low.
- Review rates quarterly; as skills and demand grow, your rate should too.
Watch out
- Non-billable time is a silent killer — if you estimate too many billable hours, your rate will be too low.
- A single rate hides differences between project types; consider premium rates for rush or specialized work.