Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator
Enter a target income, your business expenses, and the year you can work. The calculator gives the hourly and day rate that covers them, and shows what an offered rate pays in return.
How to use
- Type the take-home amount you want for the year into the first card, then the business expenses you expect to pay from billings: software, insurance, equipment, set-aside taxes.
- Describe your working year below that: weeks worked, hours per week, and the share of those hours you expect to bill. The calculator calls that share utilization.
- Read the results under the card: required revenue, billable hours, hourly rate, and day rate. They update as you type, and money rounds to whole dollars.
- To check a rate a client has offered, type it into the second card. It shows the revenue that rate bills over your working year and what is left after expenses.
How the math works
- Required revenue is your target income plus business expenses. That is the amount your billings have to cover over the year.
- Billable hours are weeks worked times hours per week times utilization. At 46 weeks, 40 hours, and 60% utilization, that is 1,104 hours.
- The hourly rate is required revenue divided by billable hours, rounded to whole dollars.
- The day rate multiplies the hourly rate by hours per week divided by 5, the standard five-day working week. At 40 hours that is an 8-hour day.
Rounding happens once per result, so readouts can differ by a dollar from hand-recomputed values. The second card runs the same chain backwards: revenue is the offered rate times billable hours, and expenses come out of that.
Frequently asked questions
Are my numbers uploaded or stored anywhere?
No. Every calculation happens in your browser tab as you type. Nothing is uploaded, nothing is stored, and the page sets no cookies. Ad slots on the page are served by third-party networks, which follow their own privacy policies.
How is the hourly rate worked out?
Your target income and business expenses add up to the revenue you must bill over the year. That revenue divides by your billable hours, which are weeks worked times hours per week times the share of hours you actually bill. The result rounds to whole dollars.
What is utilization and what should I enter?
Utilization is the share of your working hours that end up billable. Admin work, sales calls, and learning all come out of the same week, and few freelancers bill every hour. If you are unsure, start around half to two thirds and adjust once real invoices show your pace.
What happens if my expenses are bigger than my income target?
The calculator keeps going and tells you: most of your hourly rate goes to covering costs. In the second card, a rate whose revenue cannot cover your expenses shows a negative amount after expenses, which is the loss that rate would take.
Is this financial advice?
No. It is arithmetic on the numbers you enter. Adjust for taxes, insurance, retirement savings, and your local market before you commit to a rate.