Take-home
What you want left for yourself after taxes — your personal salary target.
Tool 05
Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator — Floor From Take-Home
New contractors underprice when they forget overhead, tax, and time off. This turns the life you want into a minimum hourly and day rate — not a wishlist, a floor.
Billable hours
Hours you can invoice. Efficiency (~60–70% of a 40h week) turns “busy” into billable.
Overhead
Software, insurance, coworking, gear, accountant — annual business costs.
Rate floor
Lowest hourly / day rate that still funds take-home + overhead + tax buffer.
Example
Want $75,000 take-home, $8,000 overhead, 15% tax buffer, 40 scheduled hours at 65% efficiency (~26 billable), 4 weeks off → about $78/hr and $626/day (8-hour day). Quote above that; never below without a reason.
How do I calculate a freelance hourly rate floor?
Start from desired take-home, add overhead and tax buffer, then divide by billable hours (scheduled hours × efficiency, minus PTO). That hourly floor is survival math — not market rate. Charge above it.
What is billable efficiency for freelancers?
A full 40-hour week is rarely all client work. Sales, proposals, bookkeeping, and context-switching eat time. Most freelancers land around 60–70% billable — use the presets, then override if you track real hours.
Is freelance rate floor the same as market rate?
No. Market rate is what clients will pay. This is your survival floor. If the market is below your floor, you need cheaper overhead, more billable hours, a niche that pays more — or a different model.
Should I charge my freelance rate floor?
No — charge above it. The floor is the “don’t go lower” line for discounts and friends-and-family rates.