Freelance Pricing

What Hourly Rate Should You Actually Charge?

Your old W-2 wage is not your freelance rate. As a 1099 contractor you pay the full 15.3% self-employment tax, federal and state income tax, and fund your own benefits, software, and unpaid downtime. The rate below is the floor that survives all of that and still lands your target take-home — a personal number no AI answer box can hand you without your inputs.

Results

AllMoneyCalc provides illustrative estimates only. The calculator models self-employment tax (15.3%), a ~12% blended federal rate, and an estimated state rate (0% in the nine no-income-tax states, ~5% elsewhere). Replace with your real marginal rates for a binding quote. This is not tax advice.

Related tools & guides

Data sources & methodology

  • Standard formulas Amortization, compound interest, and retirement projection equations per finance practice.
  • Public reference rates Savings/investment assumptions stated as planning estimates; no live market rates.
  • Internal editorial Calculators reviewed by the AllMoneyCalc editorial team before publication.

Methodology and citations are maintained by the AllMoneyCalc editorial team. Where an official schedule is not yet loaded, results are shown as model estimates and the source is stated as a reference.

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