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Freelance vs Employee Calculator

Enter a job offer and a freelance alternative. See which one actually puts more money in your pocket — after SE tax, FICA, employer benefits, 401k match, and state taxes.

Where this fits

💼 Income & OffersGoing 1099Offer ReviewFreelancersEmployees

This tool lives inside Going 1099 + Offer Review and is most useful for freelancers and employees.

SE Tax Rate15.3%
QBI Deduction20%
Quarterly DeadlinesApr · Jun · Sep · Jan

Verdict

Employee wins by $1,268/yr

Effective hourly: $34/hr employee vs $39/hr freelance (+$5/hr)

Job Offer

Winner
Net Take-Home
$66,974
Total Comp
$101,100
incl. benefits + match
Effective Tax Rate
25.6%
Effective Hourly
$34/hr
1,960 hrs/yr

Freelance Alternative

Net Take-Home
$65,706
Total Comp
$78,306
net + retirement
Effective Tax Rate
28.3%
Effective Hourly
$39/hr
1,680 hrs/yr

Employee

Freelance

$90,000
Gross Annual
$126,000
$23,026
Tax Burden
$35,694
25.6%
Effective Tax %
28.3%
$66,974
Net Take-Home
$65,706
$101,100
Total Comp Value
$78,306
$34/hr
Effective $/hr
$39/hr
1

Employee gross annual income

grossAnnual = baseSalary

= $90,000

= $90,000

2

Employee FICA (Social Security + Medicare)

FICA = min(salary, 168600) × 6.2% + salary × 1.45%

= $90,000 × 0.062 + $90,000 × 0.0145

= $18,526

Employee pays only their half — employer matches it separately

3

Employee total tax burden

taxBurden = FICA + federalIncomeTax + stateTax

= $23,026

4

Employee net take-home

netTakeHome = baseSalary − taxBurden

= $90,000 − $23,026

= $66,974

5

Freelance gross annual revenue

grossAnnual = hourlyRate × hoursPerWeek × weeksPerYear

= $75/hr × 35hr × 48wk

= $126,000

6

Freelance self-employment tax (both FICA halves)

seTax = netEarnings × 15.3% (where netEarnings = gross × 92.35%)

= $126,000 × 0.9235 × 0.153

= $17,803

Freelancers pay both employer and employee portions of FICA

7

Freelance net take-home

netTakeHome = gross − seTax − fedTax − stateTax − expenses − retirement

= $65,706

8

Net annual difference (freelance − employee)

netDifference = freelanceNet − employeeNet

= $65,706 − $66,974

= -$1,268

Employee role puts more money in your pocket annually

Use this result in →

🧾Calculate quarterly tax payments💰Find your minimum freelance rate

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Numbers never leave your browser · Not financial or tax advice

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The 1.4× rule — a 1099 rate needs to be at least 40% higher than a W-2 salary to break even after taxes and benefits. So a $100k salary job needs a ~$140k contract rate to net the same.

Common Questions

You're paying both sides of FICA (15.3% vs 7.65% for W-2 employees) plus no employer benefits — no health insurance, no 401(k) match, no paid time off. The calculator accounts for all of this to show true take-home.

Generally 1.4× the W-2 equivalent — so a $100k salary job would need a ~$140k contract rate to net the same after SE tax, self-paid benefits, and the loss of employer contributions.

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