Freelance Rate Calculator
Find your "Thrival" number based on 2025 SE tax realities.
A simple hourly rate doesn't account for the realities of freelance life. Our calculator builds your rate from the ground up, ensuring you have enough to cover taxes, expenses, and your desired lifestyle.
1. The Self-Employment Tax Trap
When you're a W-2 employee, your employer pays half of your FICA taxes (7.65%). As a freelancer, you are both the employer and the employee, so you pay the full 15.3% Self-Employment Tax on top of your regular income taxes. Our calculator accounts for this by "grossing up" your income goal to ensure your take-home pay (net income) is what you actually want after all taxes and expenses are paid. We use a conservative blended tax rate of 25% to cover federal, state, and SE taxes.
2. Billable Efficiency & The Loaded Rate
You don't get paid for every hour you work. Time spent on marketing, admin, and proposals is non-billable. A 60% billable efficiency is a realistic target for most freelancers. This means for every 40-hour work week, you're only billing for 24 hours. Your hourly rate needs to be high enough to cover the non-billable time.
// Your total revenue target
GrossNeeded = (DesiredNetIncome + AnnualExpenses) / (1 - TaxRate)
// Your actual billable hours in a year
TotalBillableHours = (52 - VacationWeeks) * 40 * BillableEfficiency
// The rate you must charge to hit your goal
RequiredRate = GrossNeeded / TotalBillableHours
Case Studies: What Professionals Actually Need to Charge
The Graphic Designer
Wants to net $70k/yr with $8k in expenses (software) and 4 weeks vacation. Billable efficiency is 65%.
Required Rate: $82.15/hr
The Consultant
Targets a $150k/yr net income with $20k in travel/expenses and 6 weeks off. Billable efficiency is only 50% due to high proposal volume.
Required Rate: $245.17/hr
The Web Developer
Aims for a modest $90k/yr net with low expenses ($3k) and 3 weeks vacation. Highly efficient at 80% billable hours.
Required Rate: $63.13/hr