.calc-box {
background: #f8f9fa;
border: 1px solid #e9ecef;
border-radius: 8px;
padding: 25px;
box-shadow: 0 4px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.05);
margin-bottom: 30px;
}
.calc-grid {
display: grid;
grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr;
gap: 20px;
}
@media (max-width: 600px) {
.calc-grid {
grid-template-columns: 1fr;
}
}
.input-group {
margin-bottom: 15px;
}
.input-group label {
display: block;
margin-bottom: 5px;
font-weight: 600;
color: #333;
font-size: 0.95rem;
}
.input-group input, .input-group select {
width: 100%;
padding: 10px;
border: 1px solid #ced4da;
border-radius: 4px;
font-size: 1rem;
box-sizing: border-box;
}
.input-group input:focus {
border-color: #007bff;
outline: none;
box-shadow: 0 0 0 3px rgba(0,123,255,0.1);
}
.calc-btn {
grid-column: 1 / -1;
background-color: #007bff;
color: white;
border: none;
padding: 15px;
font-size: 1.1rem;
font-weight: bold;
border-radius: 4px;
cursor: pointer;
transition: background-color 0.2s;
width: 100%;
margin-top: 10px;
}
.calc-btn:hover {
background-color: #0056b3;
}
.results-box {
grid-column: 1 / -1;
background: #fff;
border: 2px solid #28a745;
border-radius: 6px;
padding: 20px;
margin-top: 20px;
text-align: center;
display: none;
}
.results-box h3 {
margin-top: 0;
color: #28a745;
}
.result-value {
font-size: 2.5rem;
font-weight: 800;
color: #333;
margin: 10px 0;
}
.result-detail {
color: #666;
font-size: 0.9rem;
margin-top: 5px;
}
.calc-article {
line-height: 1.6;
color: #444;
}
.calc-article h2 {
color: #222;
margin-top: 30px;
}
.calc-article ul {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.calc-article li {
margin-bottom: 8px;
}
.error-msg {
color: #dc3545;
font-size: 0.9rem;
margin-top: 5px;
display: none;
}
function calculateRate() {
// Get input values
var salary = parseFloat(document.getElementById('desiredSalary').value);
var expenses = parseFloat(document.getElementById('monthlyExpenses').value);
var weeklyHours = parseFloat(document.getElementById('billableHours').value);
var weeksOff = parseFloat(document.getElementById('weeksOff').value);
var taxRate = parseFloat(document.getElementById('taxRate').value);
var profitMargin = parseFloat(document.getElementById('profitMargin').value);
// Error handling
var errorDiv = document.getElementById('errorDisplay');
var resultsDiv = document.getElementById('results');
if (isNaN(salary) || isNaN(expenses) || isNaN(weeklyHours) || isNaN(weeksOff) || isNaN(taxRate) || isNaN(profitMargin)) {
errorDiv.style.display = 'block';
resultsDiv.style.display = 'none';
return;
}
if (weeksOff >= 52) {
alert("Weeks off cannot equal or exceed 52 weeks.");
return;
}
errorDiv.style.display = 'none';
// 1. Calculate Total Expenses
var annualExpenses = expenses * 12;
// 2. Calculate Total Working Time
var workingWeeks = 52 – weeksOff;
var totalBillableHours = workingWeeks * weeklyHours;
// 3. Calculate Gross Revenue Goal
// Formula: Net Income = (Revenue – Expenses) * (1 – TaxRate)
// We want Net Income = Salary
// So: Salary = (Revenue – Expenses) * (1 – TaxRate)
// Salary / (1 – TaxRate) = Revenue – Expenses
// Revenue = (Salary / (1 – (TaxRate/100))) + Expenses
var taxFactor = 1 – (taxRate / 100);
if (taxFactor <= 0) taxFactor = 0.01; // Prevent division by zero if 100% tax
var revenueNeededForSalary = salary / taxFactor;
var totalRevenueNeeded = revenueNeededForSalary + annualExpenses;
// 4. Add Profit Margin
// If profit margin is 20%, we want the final revenue to be 20% higher than costs+salary needs
var finalRevenueGoal = totalRevenueNeeded * (1 + (profitMargin / 100));
// 5. Calculate Hourly Rate
var hourlyRate = finalRevenueGoal / totalBillableHours;
// Display Results
resultsDiv.style.display = 'block';
document.getElementById('hourlyRateDisplay').innerHTML = '$' + hourlyRate.toFixed(2);
document.getElementById('totalHoursDisplay').innerHTML = totalBillableHours.toLocaleString();
document.getElementById('grossRevenueDisplay').innerHTML = '$' + finalRevenueGoal.toLocaleString(undefined, {minimumFractionDigits: 2, maximumFractionDigits: 2});
}
How to Calculate Your Freelance Hourly Rate
Setting the right hourly rate is one of the most critical challenges for freelancers and consultants. If you price yourself too low, you risk burnout and financial instability. Price yourself too high without justification, and you may struggle to attract clients. This Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator helps you work backward from your desired annual income to find the exact rate you need to charge to cover your taxes, expenses, and non-billable time.
Why You Can't Just Use Your Employee Hourly Rate
A common mistake new freelancers make is taking their previous annual salary and dividing it by 2,080 (the standard number of work hours in a year: 40 hours x 52 weeks). This approach is flawed for several reasons:
- Unpaid Overheads: As an employee, your employer pays for equipment, software, office space, and electricity. As a freelancer, these are your "Monthly Business Expenses."
- Self-Employment Taxes: Employers typically pay half of your Social Security and Medicare taxes. Freelancers must pay the full amount (often called the Self-Employment Tax), plus income tax.
- Non-Billable Hours: You cannot bill for 40 hours a week every week. You spend time on marketing, invoicing, admin tasks, and finding new clients. Only "Billable Hours" generate revenue.
- No Paid Time Off: You don't get paid for sick days or vacations unless you factor them into your rate beforehand.
Understanding the Calculation Logic
This calculator uses a "bottom-up" approach to determine your rate:
1. Target Annual Income
This is your "take-home" pay goal—the amount you want to have available for personal living expenses after taxes and business costs are paid. Think of this as your net salary.
2. Business Expenses
Sum up all your monthly operating costs: web hosting, software subscriptions (Adobe, Office, etc.), internet, health insurance premiums, and co-working space fees. The calculator annualizes these (multiplies by 12) to see your total overhead.
3. Billable Efficiency
It is rare to be 100% billable. Most successful freelancers aim for a utilization rate of 60-70%. If you work 40 hours a week, you might only be able to bill for 25-30 of those hours. The rest is overhead administration.
4. The Tax Factor
The calculator adjusts your target income to account for taxes. If you need $75,000 net and your tax rate is 25%, you actually need to earn $100,000 gross (excluding expenses) to keep that $75,000. Formula: Target / (1 – Tax Rate).
Tips for Raising Your Rate
If the result from the calculator is higher than what you currently charge, consider these strategies:
- Specialize: Specialists can command higher rates than generalists.
- Switch to Value-Based Pricing: Instead of billing by the hour, bill by the project or the value provided to the client. This decouples your income from your time.
- Reduce Expenses: Audit your monthly subscriptions and cut unnecessary tools.
- Increase Billable Hours: Outsource admin tasks (like bookkeeping) to free up more time for client work.
Use this tool periodically to adjust your rates as your lifestyle needs, expenses, and experience levels change.