Kept

Rates

How to set a freelance hourly rate from a salary

Take the salary you would need after tax, reverse into a 1099 gross with self-employment tax, then divide by billable hours — not 2,080. Most full-time freelancers bill 1,000–1,400 hours a year after sales, admin, and time off.

Start from take-home, not the job posting

If you need $6,000 a month in the door after tax, that is the constraint. Kept’s contractor math solves for the 1099 gross that produces that net in your state. Do not copy a salaried hourly equivalent (salary ÷ 2,080) — that number ignores SE tax and unpaid hours.

Billable hours are the silent haircut

A 40-hour week with 4 weeks off is 1,920 hours. If a third of that is proposals, bookkeeping, and slack, you might bill 1,280. Dividing annual gross by 1,280 instead of 2,080 raises the posted rate by 62% before you have added a profit margin.

State tax changes the floor

The same target net costs more gross in California than in Texas. Run the hourly calculator in both states if you are remote and can choose residency. Residency is a legal fact, not a Zoom setting.

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