{"success":true,"version":"v1","request":{"tool":"get_calculator_schema","calculator_id":"freelance-hourly-rate"},"result":{"entity_type":"calculator","id":"freelance-hourly-rate","calculator_id":"freelance-hourly-rate","canonical_url":"https://tttkmbb.com/business/freelance-hourly-rate","name":"Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator","title":"Freelance Hourly Rate Calculator – Rate from Target Income, Billable Hours, Overhead and Tax Reserve","category":"business","category_name":"Business & Marketing","tool_name":"calculate_freelance_hourly_rate","featured_mcp_tool":false,"description":"Derives the hourly and daily rate a freelancer must bill to reach a target annual income after business overhead and a tax reserve, given billable hours per week and weeks off per year.","use_when":"You are setting or checking a freelance, consulting or contractor rate and know the income you want to keep.","do_not_use_when":"You want to convert an employee salary to hourly pay without overhead or tax (use salary-converter) or count hours worked (use work-hours).","inputs":[{"name":"target_annual_income","label":"Target annual income","type":"number","required":true,"max":1000000000,"exclusive_min":0,"description":"Income you want left after business expenses and the tax reserve (your 'take-home' before personal spending).","example":80000},{"name":"billable_hours_per_week","label":"Billable hours per week","type":"number","unit":"hours","required":true,"max":100,"exclusive_min":0,"description":"Hours you can actually invoice per working week (typically 20–30 of a 40-hour week after admin and sales).","example":25},{"name":"weeks_off_per_year","label":"Weeks off per year","type":"number","unit":"weeks","required":false,"default":4,"min":0,"max":51,"description":"Holidays, sick leave and training weeks without billing.","example":4},{"name":"overhead_percent","label":"Business overhead","type":"number","unit":"%","required":false,"default":20,"min":0,"exclusive_max":100,"description":"Business expenses (software, insurance, equipment, accounting) as a percentage of billings.","example":20},{"name":"tax_reserve_percent","label":"Tax reserve","type":"number","unit":"%","required":false,"default":30,"min":0,"exclusive_max":100,"description":"Share of profit (billings minus overhead) set aside for income and self-employment tax.","example":30},{"name":"hours_per_day","label":"Billable hours per day","type":"number","unit":"hours","required":false,"default":8,"max":24,"exclusive_min":0,"description":"Hours in a billable day, for the daily rate.","example":8}],"outputs":[{"name":"billable_hours_per_year","label":"Billable hours per year","type":"number","unit":"hours","decimals":0,"description":"billable_hours_per_week × (52 − weeks_off_per_year)."},{"name":"required_annual_billings","label":"Required annual billings","type":"number","decimals":2,"description":"target_annual_income / ((1 − overhead) × (1 − tax reserve))."},{"name":"hourly_rate","label":"Hourly rate","type":"number","decimals":2,"description":"required_annual_billings / billable_hours_per_year."},{"name":"daily_rate","label":"Daily rate","type":"number","decimals":2,"description":"hourly_rate × hours_per_day."},{"name":"overhead_amount","label":"Annual overhead","type":"number","decimals":2,"description":"required_annual_billings × overhead_percent/100."},{"name":"tax_reserve_amount","label":"Annual tax reserve","type":"number","decimals":2,"description":"(billings − overhead) × tax_reserve_percent/100."}],"input_schema":{"type":"object","properties":{"target_annual_income":{"description":"Income you want left after business expenses and the tax reserve (your 'take-home' before personal spending).","type":"number","maximum":1000000000,"exclusiveMinimum":0,"examples":[80000]},"billable_hours_per_week":{"description":"Hours you can actually invoice per working week (typically 20–30 of a 40-hour week after admin and sales). Unit: hours.","type":"number","maximum":100,"exclusiveMinimum":0,"examples":[25],"x-unit":"hours"},"weeks_off_per_year":{"description":"Holidays, sick leave and training weeks without billing. Unit: weeks.","type":"number","minimum":0,"maximum":51,"default":4,"examples":[4],"x-unit":"weeks"},"overhead_percent":{"description":"Business expenses (software, insurance, equipment, accounting) as a percentage of billings. Unit: %.","type":"number","minimum":0,"exclusiveMaximum":100,"default":20,"examples":[20],"x-unit":"%"},"tax_reserve_percent":{"description":"Share of profit (billings minus overhead) set aside for income and self-employment tax. Unit: %.","type":"number","minimum":0,"exclusiveMaximum":100,"default":30,"examples":[30],"x-unit":"%"},"hours_per_day":{"description":"Hours in a billable day, for the daily rate. Unit: hours.","type":"number","maximum":24,"exclusiveMinimum":0,"default":8,"examples":[8],"x-unit":"hours"}},"additionalProperties":false,"required":["target_annual_income","billable_hours_per_week"]},"output_schema":{"type":"object","properties":{"billable_hours_per_year":{"description":"billable_hours_per_week × (52 − weeks_off_per_year). Unit: hours.","type":"number","x-unit":"hours"},"required_annual_billings":{"description":"target_annual_income / ((1 − overhead) × (1 − tax reserve)).","type":"number"},"hourly_rate":{"description":"required_annual_billings / billable_hours_per_year.","type":"number"},"daily_rate":{"description":"hourly_rate × hours_per_day.","type":"number"},"overhead_amount":{"description":"required_annual_billings × overhead_percent/100.","type":"number"},"tax_reserve_amount":{"description":"(billings − overhead) × tax_reserve_percent/100.","type":"number"}}},"formula":"billable_hours = billable_hours_per_week × (52 − weeks_off_per_year); billings = target_annual_income / ((1 − overhead_percent/100) × (1 − tax_reserve_percent/100)); hourly_rate = billings / billable_hours; daily_rate = hourly_rate × hours_per_day","method":"The tax reserve is applied to profit after overhead, as self-employment and income taxes are levied on net earnings. US self-employment tax alone is 15.3 % of net earnings (2026), so reserves of 25–35 % are typical.","sources":[{"name":"IRS – Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes)","url":"https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/self-employment-tax-social-security-and-medicare-taxes","type":"government","retrieved_at":"2026-09-24"},{"name":"US Bureau of Labor Statistics – Employer Costs for Employee Compensation","url":"https://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecec.nr0.htm","type":"government","retrieved_at":"2026-09-24"}],"freshness":{"type":"static","max_age_seconds":null,"note":"Deterministic formula with fixed constants; results never go stale. Inputs supplied by the caller determine the output."},"examples":[{"name":"80,000 target, 25 h/week, 4 weeks off, 20 % overhead, 30 % tax","inputs":{"target_annual_income":80000,"billable_hours_per_week":25,"weeks_off_per_year":4,"overhead_percent":20,"tax_reserve_percent":30},"expected":{"billable_hours_per_year":1200,"required_annual_billings":142857.14,"hourly_rate":119.05,"daily_rate":952.38,"overhead_amount":28571.43,"tax_reserve_amount":34285.71},"url":"https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculate/freelance-hourly-rate?target_annual_income=80000&billable_hours_per_week=25&weeks_off_per_year=4&overhead_percent=20&tax_reserve_percent=30"},{"name":"60,000 target, 30 h/week, 6 weeks off, no overhead or tax","inputs":{"target_annual_income":60000,"billable_hours_per_week":30,"weeks_off_per_year":6,"overhead_percent":0,"tax_reserve_percent":0},"expected":{"billable_hours_per_year":1380,"hourly_rate":43.48,"daily_rate":347.83},"url":"https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculate/freelance-hourly-rate?target_annual_income=60000&billable_hours_per_week=30&weeks_off_per_year=6&overhead_percent=0&tax_reserve_percent=0"}],"faq":[{"q":"Why is the rate so much higher than my old salary divided by 2,080 hours?","a":"Employees are paid for non-billable time, holidays and employer-covered benefits and payroll taxes (about 30 % of total compensation according to BLS). Freelancers bill perhaps 1,200 hours a year and carry those costs themselves."},{"q":"Is the tax reserve my actual tax rate?","a":"No, it is a saving target. Your real liability depends on jurisdiction, deductions and brackets; 25–35 % is a common starting point for US self-employed people."}],"tags":["freelance rate calculator","hourly rate calculator","consulting rate","contractor rate","day rate"],"related":[{"calculator_id":"salary-converter","reason":"Convert between hourly, monthly and annual pay without overhead."},{"calculator_id":"work-hours","reason":"Count hours worked between clock times."},{"calculator_id":"margin-markup","reason":"Mark up costs for project pricing."}],"links":{"html":"https://tttkmbb.com/business/freelance-hourly-rate","markdown":"https://tttkmbb.com/business/freelance-hourly-rate.md","json":"https://tttkmbb.com/business/freelance-hourly-rate.json","api":"https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculate/freelance-hourly-rate","schema":"https://tttkmbb.com/api/v1/calculators/freelance-hourly-rate","openapi":"https://tttkmbb.com/openapi.json","mcp":"https://tttkmbb.com/mcp"},"version":"v1","updated_at":"2026-09-24"},"timestamp":"2026-09-24T01:53:52Z"}