Day Rate Calculator
Enter your target income, choose the period (per year, month, week, or billable day), and your billable days to find the day rate to charge.
How to use this calculator
- 1Enter your target income and choose the period — per year, month, week, or billable day.
- 2Enter your realistic billable days per year (a full-time freelancer bills roughly 200–230, not 260).
- 3Read the day rate, the implied 8-hour hourly, and the annual income it works out to.
How the Day Rate Calculator works
A day rate is how many freelancers, contractors and consultants price full-day engagements. Set your income goal in whatever period is natural — per year, month, week, or billable day — and the calculator annualises it, then divides by the number of days you can realistically bill, which after weekends, holidays, admin and sales is usually 200–230, not 260.
Because a day rate bundles a whole day, it is simpler for clients and protects you from the fragmentation of half-day bookings. Set it against a target income you can defend, and round it to a clean figure that signals you charge for full days.
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Create an invoice freeFrequently asked questions
How do I calculate a day rate?
Divide your target annual income by the number of days you can actually bill in a year. $90,000 over 220 billable days is about $409 a day.
How many billable days are realistic?
After weekends, holidays, admin and sales, most full-time freelancers bill 200–230 days a year. Use a number you can sustain.
Should a day rate be 8× the hourly?
Roughly, but many freelancers set a slightly rounded day rate to reward a full-day booking and discourage half-day fragmentation.
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