/* Base Styles for WordPress Content */
.calc-container {
font-family: 'Segoe UI', Roboto, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;
max-width: 800px;
margin: 0 auto;
padding: 20px;
background: #ffffff;
border: 1px solid #e0e0e0;
border-radius: 8px;
box-shadow: 0 4px 6px rgba(0,0,0,0.05);
}
.calc-header {
text-align: center;
margin-bottom: 30px;
}
.calc-header h2 {
color: #2c3e50;
margin-bottom: 10px;
}
.calc-grid {
display: grid;
grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr;
gap: 20px;
margin-bottom: 25px;
}
@media (max-width: 600px) {
.calc-grid {
grid-template-columns: 1fr;
}
}
.input-group {
display: flex;
flex-direction: column;
}
.input-group label {
font-size: 14px;
font-weight: 600;
color: #555;
margin-bottom: 8px;
}
.input-group input {
padding: 12px;
border: 1px solid #ddd;
border-radius: 4px;
font-size: 16px;
transition: border-color 0.3s;
}
.input-group input:focus {
border-color: #3498db;
outline: none;
}
.calc-btn-container {
text-align: center;
margin-bottom: 30px;
}
.calc-btn {
background-color: #3498db;
color: white;
border: none;
padding: 15px 40px;
font-size: 18px;
font-weight: bold;
border-radius: 5px;
cursor: pointer;
transition: background-color 0.3s;
}
.calc-btn:hover {
background-color: #2980b9;
}
.results-section {
background-color: #f8f9fa;
padding: 25px;
border-radius: 6px;
border-left: 5px solid #27ae60;
display: none; /* Hidden by default */
}
.results-section h3 {
margin-top: 0;
color: #2c3e50;
}
.result-row {
display: flex;
justify-content: space-between;
margin-bottom: 15px;
border-bottom: 1px solid #eee;
padding-bottom: 5px;
}
.result-label {
color: #7f8c8d;
font-weight: 500;
}
.result-value {
font-weight: bold;
color: #2c3e50;
font-size: 1.1em;
}
.final-rate {
font-size: 2em;
color: #27ae60;
}
/* Article Content Styles */
.seo-content {
margin-top: 50px;
line-height: 1.6;
color: #333;
}
.seo-content h2 {
color: #2c3e50;
margin-top: 30px;
border-bottom: 2px solid #3498db;
padding-bottom: 10px;
}
.seo-content h3 {
color: #34495e;
margin-top: 25px;
}
.seo-content ul {
margin-bottom: 20px;
}
.seo-content li {
margin-bottom: 10px;
}
.seo-content p {
margin-bottom: 15px;
}
Why You Need a Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator
Pricing your services correctly is one of the biggest challenges for freelancers, consultants, and independent contractors. Unlike a salaried employee, your hourly rate must cover not just your take-home pay, but also your taxes, business overhead, health insurance, and unpaid time off.
Many new freelancers make the mistake of simply dividing their desired salary by 2,080 (the standard number of work hours in a year). This approach often leads to burnout and financial struggle because it fails to account for non-billable hours and business expenses.
How This Calculator Works
Our calculator uses a reverse-engineering approach to determine your ideal rate. Here is the logic behind the numbers:
- Net Income Goal: The amount of money you want to put in your pocket after all expenses and taxes.
- Overhead & Expenses: Software subscriptions, coworking space fees, equipment upgrades, and professional insurance are added to your base requirement.
- Tax Buffer: Self-employment taxes can be significant. We calculate the gross revenue needed to ensure your net income remains intact after Uncle Sam takes his share.
- Billable Capacity: You cannot bill for 8 hours a day, 52 weeks a year. You need time for marketing, admin work, and rest. This tool calculates your actual billable hours based on your working weeks and daily capacity.
The Formula for Freelance Success
To calculate your rate manually, you can use the following formula which our tool automates:
Minimum Rate = (Desired Net Income + Expenses) / (1 – Tax Rate %) / Total Billable Hours
What are "Billable Hours"?
Billable hours are the hours you are actually paid for by a client. If you work an 8-hour day, you might spend 2 hours on emails, invoicing, and finding new clients. These are non-billable. Therefore, your rate for the remaining 6 hours must be high enough to cover the full 8-hour day.
Adjusting for Market Value
Once you calculate your "Break-Even" hourly rate using the tool above, compare it to market rates for your industry. If the calculator suggests $60/hr but the market average is $100/hr, you should charge the higher amount to maximize profit. If the calculator says $150/hr but the market cap is $100/hr, you may need to reduce expenses or increase your billable hours to make the math work.
function calculateRate() {
// 1. Get input values
var targetIncome = parseFloat(document.getElementById('targetIncome').value);
var annualExpenses = parseFloat(document.getElementById('annualExpenses').value);
var billableHours = parseFloat(document.getElementById('billableHours').value);
var daysPerWeek = parseFloat(document.getElementById('daysPerWeek').value);
var weeksOff = parseFloat(document.getElementById('weeksOff').value);
var taxRate = parseFloat(document.getElementById('taxRate').value);
// 2. Validation
if (isNaN(targetIncome) || isNaN(annualExpenses) || isNaN(billableHours) ||
isNaN(daysPerWeek) || isNaN(weeksOff) || isNaN(taxRate)) {
alert("Please fill in all fields with valid numbers.");
return;
}
// 3. Logic Calculation
// Calculate total working weeks per year
var workingWeeks = 52 – weeksOff;
if (workingWeeks = 1) {
alert("Tax rate cannot be 100% or more.");
return;
}
var totalCashNeeded = targetIncome + annualExpenses;
var grossRevenueNeeded = totalCashNeeded / (1 – taxDecimal);
// Calculate Tax Amount
var taxAmount = grossRevenueNeeded – totalCashNeeded;
// Calculate Hourly Rate
var hourlyRate = 0;
if (totalBillableHours > 0) {
hourlyRate = grossRevenueNeeded / totalBillableHours;
} else {
alert("Total billable hours is zero. Please increase days or hours worked.");
return;
}
// 4. Display Results
document.getElementById('hourlyRateResult').innerHTML = '$' + hourlyRate.toFixed(2);
document.getElementById('grossRevenueResult').innerHTML = '$' + grossRevenueNeeded.toLocaleString('en-US', {minimumFractionDigits: 2, maximumFractionDigits: 2});
document.getElementById('totalHoursResult').innerHTML = totalBillableHours.toLocaleString('en-US');
document.getElementById('taxAmountResult').innerHTML = '$' + taxAmount.toLocaleString('en-US', {minimumFractionDigits: 2, maximumFractionDigits: 2});
// Show result section
document.getElementById('results').style.display = 'block';
}