Why does my rate come out so much higher than I expected?

Because the hours are fewer than you think. A 40-hour week rarely yields more than 25 billable hours once admin, sales, and email take their cut, and 52 working weeks is a fiction. Honest inputs push the rate up; that is the point.

Should the target include taxes?

This calculates gross revenue. If you want $70k to live on, add self-employment tax, income tax, health insurance, and retirement first. A common shortcut: divide your take-home goal by 0.65-0.7.

What if the rate the goal demands is above my market?

Then the goal, the hours, or the positioning has to move. Raising effective rates through retainers, productized services, or value pricing usually beats hunting for more hours.

Rates & pricing

Income goal calculator

Most freelancers pick a rate and hope. This runs the arithmetic the other way: name the income you want, admit how many hours you really bill, and see the rate the goal demands.

Your numbers

Currency

Target annual income

Gross revenue you want the business to bring in this year.

Billable hours per week

Hours you invoice, not hours at the desk. 20-30 is realistic full-time.

Weeks worked per year

After vacation, holidays, sick days, and dry spells. 46 is honest.

Results

Rate that hits the goal$78per hour

Billable hours per year: 1,150
Monthly target: $7,500
Weekly target: $1,957

Estimate

workingfigures.com/calculators/freelance-income-goal-calculator

The formula

Rate = target income ÷ (billable hours per week × weeks worked). The denominator is where freelancers lie to themselves; the calculator just does what it is told.

What this ignores

Taxes and expenses: this is a gross revenue target. If you are working from a take-home goal, gross it up first with our take-home and tax set-aside calculators.

FAQ

Why does my rate come out so much higher than I expected?: Because the hours are fewer than you think. A 40-hour week rarely yields more than 25 billable hours once admin, sales, and email take their cut, and 52 working weeks is a fiction. Honest inputs push the rate up; that is the point.
Should the target include taxes?: This calculates gross revenue. If you want $70k to live on, add self-employment tax, income tax, health insurance, and retirement first. A common shortcut: divide your take-home goal by 0.65-0.7.
What if the rate the goal demands is above my market?: Then the goal, the hours, or the positioning has to move. Raising effective rates through retainers, productized services, or value pricing usually beats hunting for more hours.