Convert salary to hourly in seconds. Then price a freelance or consulting rate from the take-home you want, your expenses, billable hours, and tax.
Employed math. 2,080 hours a year, 52 weeks.
This is employed math. Paid time off and benefits sit on the other side of the desk.
Price a freelance rate from this salaryA freelance rate has to pay for the hours you do not bill, the costs nobody else is covering, and a tax your employer used to split. Five questions. You get an hourly rate and a day rate you can actually live on.
Default billable year: 1,200 hours, not 2,080. That is about 25 billed hours a week across 48 weeks.
Used to match you with someone who prices this work. Not used in the maths.
Same $100,000 take-home, three ways of turning it into a rate. The highlighted row is the one this calculator is built for.
Employed, 2,080 hours
$48/hr
Salary divided by a full-time year. Benefits and paid time off sit on the other side of the desk.
Freelance using employed hours
$48/hr
The same division, billed as a contractor. This is the number that quietly underprices the year.
Freelance, 1,200 hours plus tax and costs
$133/hr
Target take-home plus expenses, grossed up for tax, divided by hours you will actually bill.
| Type | Hourly | Day rate | What it assumes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employed, 2,080 hours | $48/hr | $384 | Salary divided by a full-time year. Benefits and paid time off sit on the other side of the desk. |
| Freelance using employed hours | $48/hr | $384 | The same division, billed as a contractor. This is the number that quietly underprices the year. |
| Freelance, 1,200 hours plus tax and costs | $133/hr | $1,064 | Target take-home plus expenses, grossed up for tax, divided by hours you will actually bill. |
Worked example uses $100,000 take-home, $12,000 expenses, 30% tax and 1,200 billable hours. Amounts display in the currency you pick. The calculator does not convert exchange rates. Sources: IRS self-employment tax and the US 2,080-hour payroll year.
Every step is shown, so you can argue with it.
Step 1
Add your target take-home to annual business expenses.
Step 2
Divide by 1 minus your tax rate. At 30% tax, divide by 0.70.
Step 3
Divide that gross by your billable hours. That is the hourly rate.
Step 4
Multiply by hours in a billable day. That is the day rate.
Gross = (target + expenses) / (1 minus tax rate). Hourly = gross / billable hours. Day = hourly times hours per day. Amounts display in the currency you pick. The calculator does not convert exchange rates. Check the result against what people in your specialty actually invoice. This is not tax advice.
To convert hourly to salary, multiply by 2,080 (40 hours times 52 weeks). $50 an hour is $104,000 a year. To convert salary to hourly, divide by 2,080. $104,000 a year is $50 an hour.
That converter is useful for employed offers. It is the wrong tool for a freelance or consulting rate, because it pretends you will bill every hour of a full-time year and that someone else is paying for holidays, sick days, software and half of Social Security. Use the converter above the fold for the employed number, then the freelance wizard for the number you actually quote.
The number is a third of the job. This is the rest of it.
Step 1
The number you want to live on is the input. An employed hourly rate is not.
Step 2
Software, insurance, an accountant, unpaid invoices, the laptop you replace yourself.
Step 3
Self-employment tax is 15.3% before income tax. A 30% all-in buffer is a starting point, not advice.
Step 4
Selling, admin, holidays and sick days are not billable. 1,200 hours a year is a common full-time freelance year.
Step 5
A day rate is easier to defend and harder to nickel-and-dime. Say it once, then stop talking.
Founders and consultants who have priced this work before. Book one session and run the rate past them before you send the proposal.
Chris Nicol
Product Leader · Xelix
Product Leader & Coach | Helping your grow your career 🌱
Tiziana Floruss
Business Operations Director at Perk (Ex Chief of Staff)| ICF-Certified Business & Leadership Coach | 500h Certified Yoga Teacher · TravelPerk
Helping Ambitious Professionals Grow Into Strategic Leaders
Ala Mashini
Product Leader · ex- Amazon, Intuit, MGM Resorts
I help PMs land better roles, grow into product leaders, and make sharper decisions | Ex-Amazon, Intuit & MGM
The converter, the freelance rate, tax, and what the number does not know.
Add the take-home you want to your annual expenses, divide by one minus your tax rate, then divide by the hours you will actually bill. On $100,000 take-home, $12,000 expenses, 30% tax and 1,200 billable hours that is about $133 an hour.
Multiply the hourly rate by 2,080, which is 40 hours a week across 52 weeks. $50 an hour is $104,000 a year. That is employed math: it assumes someone else is paying for holidays, sick days and benefits.
Divide the annual salary by 2,080. $104,000 a year is $50 an hour. Freelancers should not stop there. Tax, expenses and unbilled time mean the freelance rate for the same take-home is higher.
Your hourly rate multiplied by the hours you count as a billable day, usually 7 or 8. Clients buy days more readily than hours, and a day rate is harder to chip away at.
A full-time employee is paid for about 2,080 hours. A full-time freelancer who also sells, invoices and takes holidays often bills 1,000 to 1,400. This calculator defaults to 1,200, which is roughly 25 billed hours a week across 48 weeks.
Yes. You pick a tax rate and the tool grosses your take-home and expenses up so the rate still leaves that amount after tax. US self-employment tax is 15.3% on net earnings before income tax. A 30% all-in rate is a starting point. It is not tax advice.
You are paying for the hours you do not bill, the benefits nobody else is buying, and a tax the employer used to split with you. Using salary divided by 2,080 as a freelance rate is the most common way people undercharge.
Hourly is fine for short, interruptible work. A day rate is better once a client wants a block of your attention, because it prices the switching cost and is easier to hold. Many consultants quote both and let the client pick the shape.
Anything you now pay for yourself: software, insurance, an accountant, co-working, equipment, unpaid invoices you have to float, and a buffer for the months that are quiet. If you do not know yet, $12,000 a year is a cautious placeholder.
It is the US payroll convention, 40 hours times 52 weeks, and it is how hourly-to-salary converters work. Nobody bills 2,080 hours as a freelancer. Public holidays, vacation, sales and admin come off the top.
Accurate enough to stop using salary divided by 2,080. It does not know your market, your niche, or whether a client will pay it. Check the number against what people in your specialty actually invoice, then hold it.
Yes. The inputs are the same: the take-home you want, the costs of running the practice, the hours you will bill, and tax. Consultants usually quote a day rate. The tool gives you both.
Yes. Pick a currency in the converter. The maths is the same in every currency: it does not convert exchange rates. Enter the take-home you want in the currency you invoice in.
A career test, a raise number, a freelance rate, and a LinkedIn headline. Use the one that matches the conversation you are in.
Eighteen questions. A ranked list of careers that fit how you actually like to work.
Take the testWhat to ask for, from the gap to market, inflation, and your leverage.
Calculate a raiseScore the line you have, then a rewrite that names the job in the first 40 characters.
Score my headlineOne-off calls rarely move the needle. Our mentors work with you over weeks and months – helping you stay accountable, avoid mistakes, and build real confidence. Most mentees hit major milestones in just 3 months.
The calculator gives you the figure and the words. A mentor helps you hold the number when a client asks you to come down.
