{
  "slug": "freelance-minimum-day-rate",
  "title": "Freelance Minimum Day Rate Calculator",
  "heading": "Freelance Minimum Day Rate Calculator",
  "category": "financial",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/freelance-minimum-day-rate",
  "summary": "The lowest day rate that still covers your costs and target income.",
  "description": "Freelancers price off gut feel and end up underwater. This works backwards from take-home target, business costs and billable days to the day rate you cannot go below.",
  "formula": "Rate = (take-home ÷ (1 − tax) + costs) ÷ (weeks × billable days).",
  "dateModified": "2026-09-30",
  "run_url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/calc?tool=freelance-minimum-day-rate",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "target",
      "label": "Target annual take-home",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 90000,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": null,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "costs",
      "label": "Annual business costs",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 12000,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": null,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "taxRate",
      "label": "Effective tax rate",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 28,
      "unit": "%",
      "min": 0,
      "max": 60
    },
    {
      "id": "weeks",
      "label": "Working weeks per year",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 46,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 20,
      "max": 52
    },
    {
      "id": "days",
      "label": "Billable days per week",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 3.5,
      "unit": null,
      "min": 0.5,
      "max": 7
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [
    {
      "id": "rate",
      "label": "Minimum day rate",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": true
    },
    {
      "id": "hourly",
      "label": "Equivalent hourly",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "gross",
      "label": "Revenue needed",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "billable",
      "label": "Billable days/yr",
      "format": "decimal",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "worked_example": {
    "inputs": [
      "Target annual take-home: 90000 $",
      "Annual business costs: 12000 $",
      "Effective tax rate: 28 %",
      "Working weeks per year: 46",
      "Billable days per week: 3.5"
    ],
    "outputs": [
      "Minimum day rate: $851",
      "Equivalent hourly: $106",
      "Revenue needed: $137,000",
      "Billable days/yr: 161"
    ]
  },
  "how_to": {
    "title": "How to use this",
    "steps": [
      "Enter target annual take-home ($).",
      "Enter annual business costs ($).",
      "Enter effective tax rate (%).",
      "Enter working weeks per year.",
      "Enter billable days per week.",
      "Read your minimum day rate on the right — it updates as you type.",
      "Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone."
    ]
  },
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "Conservative",
      "description": "Lower-end numbers — what if things land soft?",
      "values": {
        "target": 54000,
        "costs": 7000,
        "taxRate": 17,
        "weeks": 28,
        "days": 2.1
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Typical",
      "description": "Defaults — the most common real-world setup.",
      "values": {
        "target": 90000,
        "costs": 12000,
        "taxRate": 28,
        "weeks": 46,
        "days": 3.5
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Ambitious",
      "description": "Higher-end numbers — what if things really pop?",
      "values": {
        "target": 144000,
        "costs": 19000,
        "taxRate": 45,
        "weeks": 52,
        "days": 5.6000000000000005
      }
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.",
    "Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.",
    "This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant."
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "How does the freelance minimum day rate calculator work?",
      "a": "Freelancers price off gut feel and end up underwater. This works backwards from take-home target, business costs and billable days to the day rate you cannot go below. The underlying maths is: Rate = (take-home ÷ (1 − tax) + costs) ÷ (weeks × billable days)."
    },
    {
      "q": "What do I need to enter?",
      "a": "5 values: target annual take-home, annual business costs, effective tax rate, working weeks per year, and billable days per week. Each field starts with a sensible default, so you can change one number at a time and watch the result move."
    },
    {
      "q": "What does the minimum day rate result mean?",
      "a": "It is returned as a money amount in US dollars and updates live as you edit the inputs, so you can compare two or three versions of a scenario in a few seconds."
    },
    {
      "q": "Is this calculator free, and do I need an account?",
      "a": "Yes, it's free, and no account is required. Nothing you type is stored on our servers — the maths runs entirely in your browser."
    },
    {
      "q": "How accurate is the result?",
      "a": "It applies the standard formula exactly, so the arithmetic is precise. Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them."
    },
    {
      "q": "Who is this tool for?",
      "a": "It's built for anyone comparing money scenarios before committing — budgeting a payment, sanity-checking a quote, or seeing what a change in rate or term actually costs."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/freelance-utilization-rate",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/freelance-retainer-pricing"
  ],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "citation": "RevenueLab — Freelance Minimum Day Rate Calculator (https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/freelance-minimum-day-rate)"
}