Pitch Pitch Kiln › Tools › Freelance hourly rate calculator
Freelance hourly rate calculator
Start from what you want to take home, not from what others charge. This works it backwards to the rate you need.
- Billable hours per year
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- Gross revenue needed
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- Minimum hourly rate
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- Day rate (8 h)
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Formula: (income goal + expenses) ÷ (1 − tax %) ÷ billable hours.
How the rate is worked out
A freelancer's rate has to cover three things an employee's salary never shows: business expenses, self-employment taxes, and the hours you can't bill. The calculator adds your income goal to your expenses, grosses that up for taxes, and divides by the hours you can realistically bill in a year.
Example with the defaults: 52 − 6 = 46 working weeks × 40 hours × 60% billable = 1,104 billable hours. ($60,000 + $6,000) ÷ (1 − 0.25) = $88,000 gross needed. $88,000 ÷ 1,104 ≈ $79.71 an hour before the buffer.
Turn the number into a quote
Clients compare packages more readily than hourly rates. Use this number as your floor, then price fixed-scope options above it with the quote builder.
FAQ
What billable percentage should I use?
Only you can measure it. Track a few weeks of time and divide billable hours by total working hours. If you have no data, test 50% and 70% to see the range.
Does this include platform fees?
Add them as expenses, or use the Upwork or Fiverr fee calculators to gross up your rate for the platform's cut.
Where does the tax percentage come from?
It's your own estimate. The quarterly tax set-aside estimator on this site gives a 2026 federal estimate from your expected profit that you can use here.
Is the result a market rate?
No. It's the minimum rate that meets your own goals. What the market will pay is a separate question.
Sources
- IRS — Self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes) — 15.3% rate, 2026 $184,500 Social Security cap, Additional Medicare thresholds
- Pitch Kiln quarterly tax estimator — for the tax set-aside input
Figures last checked: . This tool uses no third-party fee or tax figures; all inputs are yours. Not legal or tax advice.
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