Scenario 1
Mid-career freelancer
$80k target take-home, $10k expenses, 30% tax rate, 75% billable → $128k gross revenue needed, ~$82/hr (1,560 billable hours).
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Freelance Salary Calculator
Find out what to charge as a freelancer to match your salary — for real.
Adjust your inputs
Results update instantly as you type or drag.
10,000 – 1,000,000
$
0 – 200,000
$
Software, equipment, insurance, professional development
10 – 60
%
Income tax + self-employment tax (US: typically 25–40%)
10 – 100
%
% of working hours that are billable to clients
500 – 3,000
h
2080 = 40hr/wk × 52 weeks
Quick insights
Minimum hourly rate
$106.23
Billable hours/year
1,560
Quick answer
How much should I charge as a freelancer vs. my salary?
A good rule: multiply your desired salary by 2–3× to account for taxes, non-billable time, benefits, and overhead. A $60k salary often requires $100–$120k in revenue.
How it works
From inputs to result in four steps
A quick walkthrough of what this calculator does behind the scenes.
- 1
Enter your target annual income (take-home after taxes).
- 2
Enter estimated annual business expenses.
- 3
Set your utilization rate (% of hours that are billable).
- 4
See the gross revenue and hourly rate you need.
Formula
The math behind the number
No black box — here's exactly how the result is computed.
Formula
Pre-tax income needed = Target income ÷ (1 − effective tax rate)
Required gross revenue = (Pre-tax income + Annual expenses) ÷ Utilization
Hourly rate = Required gross revenue ÷ Billable hours per yearExamples
Real-world scenarios
See how the numbers play out for typical use cases.
Scenario 2
Part-time freelance
$30k target, $3k expenses, 25% tax, 60% utilization → $53k revenue, ~$102/hr at 520 billable hours.
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