How freelance rate calculator works
A freelance rate is not your old salary divided by 2,080 hours. The working year you actually sell is much smaller: of 40 hours a week, only a share is billable — the rest goes to admin, sales, marketing and learning — and the year loses weeks to vacation, holidays and sickness. Multiply hours per week × working weeks × billable share and a "full-time" freelancer often finds just 1,000–1,200 sellable hours a year.
The rate must cover more than the salary. Business overhead (software, insurance, equipment, workspace) is added on top, and because freelancers pay their own taxes, the total is grossed up for the tax reserve: needing $76,000 after setting aside 25% for tax requires $76,000 ÷ 0.75 ≈ $101,333 of revenue. Dividing that required revenue by the billable hours gives the minimum sustainable hourly rate — anything below it is a discount you are paying for out of your own salary.
The daily rate is the hourly rate × billable hours in a working day (8 by default, adjustable). Quoting day rates is common in consulting because it prices outcomes rather than clock-watching and simplifies estimates. Both figures are floors, not targets: they say what the numbers require, and you can price above them when demand, specialization or urgency allows.