Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator 2026
2026 tax yearStart from the take-home pay you want and find the hourly rate to charge as a freelancer in 2026, after self-employment tax, income tax, business expenses, health insurance, retirement savings and unpaid time.
Try an example
The rate to charge
Hourly rate
$0
- Billable hours a year
- 0
- Day rate (8 hours)
- $0
- Billing needed a month
- $0
- Billing needed a year
- $0
Where the billing goes
What this calculator estimates
It works backwards. You enter the pay you want to keep, and it finds the lowest whole-dollar amount you must bill so that, after 2026 federal tax, an optional state estimate and your own costs, you keep at least that amount. The hourly rate is that amount divided by the hours you can bill.
- Self-employment tax is 15.3% of 92.35% of net profit, with Social Security stopping at $184,500. Half is deducted from income.
- The QBI deduction phases out between $201,750 and $276,750 of taxable income ($403,500 to $553,500 joint) for a business with no employees or property, following Form 8995-A. Service businesses lose it faster.
- Health insurance and the retirement contribution are deducted, limited to profit after half of self-employment tax. The retirement amount isn't checked against plan limits; the Solo 401(k) calculator shows yours.
- Billable hours = (52 − weeks not billed) × hours a week × billable share. No average is assumed. Use your own.
If you are weighing a job offer against contracting, use the 1099 vs. W-2 calculator.
Worked example
Each row was run through this calculator for a single filer with no state income tax, no other income, $5,000 of business expenses (hypothetical) and no health insurance or retirement savings. The three columns are work-year scenarios, not averages.
| Take-home pay | Billing needed | 1,536 hrs40 hours, 4 weeks off, 80% billable | 1,152 hrs40 hours, 4 weeks off, 60% billable | 966 hrs30 hours, 6 weeks off, 70% billable |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | $54,652 | $35.58 | $47.44 | $56.58 |
| $60,000 | $80,643 | $52.50 | $70.00 | $83.48 |
| $80,000 | $108,401 | $70.57 | $94.10 | $112.22 |
| $100,000 | $137,173 | $89.31 | $119.07 | $142.00 |
| $150,000 | $209,376 | $136.31 | $181.75 | $216.75 |
Frequently asked questions
How do I calculate my freelance hourly rate?
Start with the pay you want to keep after tax. Add what you pay out of pocket (expenses, health insurance, retirement savings), then add the self-employment tax and income tax that the extra billing causes, and divide by the hours you can bill. This calculator does that loop for you: for a single filer with $5,000 of expenses and no state tax, $80,000 of take-home pay takes $108,401 of billing, which is $70.57 an hour at 1,536 billable hours and $94.10 at 1,152.
Why is my rate so much higher than an employee's hourly pay?
You pay both halves of Social Security and Medicare tax, you cover your own health insurance and retirement savings, and you're only paid for the hours you bill. Admin, sales and gaps between clients are unpaid, so the rate has to cover them. The billable share and weeks-off fields show how much that matters.
How many hours a year can a freelancer bill?
There's no standard figure, and we don't use an average. A 40-hour week for 52 weeks is 2,080 hours, but that includes paid time off an employee gets. After 4 weeks without billing and an 80% billable share, the same 40-hour week gives 1,536 hours. Track your own for a few months and use that number.
Does the rate include taxes?
Yes. The calculator works backwards from take-home pay, so the rate covers 15.3% self-employment tax on 92.35% of net profit, federal income tax with the half-of-SE-tax deduction and the QBI deduction, and a state estimate if you pick a state. It doesn't withhold anything for you, so the set-aside share shown is the part of each payment to move into a tax account.
Should I charge by the hour at all?
Which one to use is a pricing choice. A day rate or a project price can pay more if you work faster than the hours you quote, and an hourly rate protects you when scope grows. The calculator gives you an hourly floor and a day rate based on 8 hours, which you can use to check a project quote.
Is this the same as the freelance tax calculator?
It uses the same tax engine, but it starts from the other end. The freelance tax calculator takes your income and tells you the tax. This one takes the pay you want to keep and tells you the income and rate you need to get there.
Related guides
- 1099 vs. W-2: How Much More Do You Need to Earn?: turn a salary offer into a contractor rate
- How Much to Set Aside for Taxes as a Freelancer: what to keep from each payment
- Self-Employment Tax Explained: why it isn't 15.3% of all your profit
- Freelancer Tax Deductions 2026: expenses that lower the profit you pay tax on
- Self-Employed Health Insurance Deduction: how the premium is deducted
- Quarterly Estimated Taxes 2026: paying the tax your rate builds in
More tools
- 1099 vs. W-2 calculator: compare a salary offer with a contractor rate
- Freelance tax calculator: the tax on income you already expect
- Solo 401(k) contribution calculator: how much you can save for retirement
Sources
The official, primary sources behind the figures and rules on this page.
- 1IRS: 2026 Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals (PDF)
- 2IRS: Publication 505 (2026), Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax (PDF)
- 3IRS: Schedule 1-A (Form 1040), Additional Deductions (PDF)
- 4IRS Topic no. 560, Additional Medicare Tax
- 5IRS: Rev. Proc. 2025-32, 2026 inflation-adjusted items incl. section 199A thresholds (PDF)
- 6IRS: Topic no. 554, Self-employment tax
- 7IRS: Qualified business income deduction
- 8IRS: Instructions for Form 8995-A (2025), including the SSTB list and W-2 wage limit (PDF)
- 9Tax Foundation: State Individual Income Tax Rates and Brackets, 2026
- 10Ohio Department of Taxation: Business Income Deduction Information