Finance

Freelance Day Rate Calculator

Go from a target income to a day rate, or from a day rate to what it's actually worth next to a salaried job — accounting for the costs an employer would otherwise absorb.

Target annual income (take-home you're aiming for)

Working weeks per year

52 minus vacation, sick time, and time between contracts.

Billable days per week

Time left after admin, marketing, and finding clients.

Hours per billable day

Self-employment tax / contributions buffer

The extra tax burden employees don't carry alone.

Annual business overhead

Software, insurance, equipment, accounting.

Value of lost employee benefits

Health coverage, retirement match, paid time off.

Result

You need to charge

$588/ day

Hourly rate

$74/hr

Annual billings needed

$112,941

This is a planning estimate, not tax or financial advice — actual tax treatment depends on where you live and how your business is structured.

How this calculator works

Freelance pricing advice usually stops at "charge more than you think." This tool replaces that with arithmetic: it starts from how many days a year you can realistically bill (not 260 — most freelancers bill 150-200 once admin, marketing, and gaps between contracts are subtracted), then adds back what a salaried job would otherwise cover for you — benefits, and the employer's share of payroll tax — before dividing by your billable days. Run it in either direction: set a target income to find the rate that supports it, or check whether a rate you've been offered actually holds up once those costs are counted.

FAQ

Why is a freelance day rate higher than salary ÷ working days?: An employer covers benefits, pays half of certain payroll taxes, and pays you for every working day of the year — including slow weeks. A freelancer has to price all of that into the rate, plus the admin and sales time that never gets billed.
What counts as "non-billable" time?: Anything that isn't directly billed to a client: invoicing, bookkeeping, marketing, proposals, and the gaps between contracts. Most freelancers only bill 3-4 days in a 5-day week once this is accounted for — that's what "billable days per week" controls.
Is the self-employment tax buffer accurate for my country?: The default (15%) approximates the extra tax burden in systems like US self-employment tax. Adjust it to match your own country's rules for self-employed contributions — this calculator doesn't file taxes for you, it just reserves room for them in the rate.
Should I use my exact numbers or round ones?: Round ones. This tool is for finding a defensible starting rate, not for accounting — treat the result as a floor to negotiate up from, not a quote to send as-is.