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//// Career · Freelance Pricing

Freelance Rate Increase Calculator

See how much purchasing power you've lost to inflation, where your rate sits in the market for your discipline, what rate hits your income target, and whether the raise nets positive after client attrition.

Where this fits

💼 Income & OffersGoing 1099FreelancersEmployees

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

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

Current Rate

Current hourly rate
$/hr
Years at this rate
yrs

Inflation

Annual inflation rate

3.5% = approximate 2022–2024 avg CPI

%/yr

Income Goal

Target income increase

% increase over current annual income

%

Market & Capacity

Your market

Billable hours per week
hrs/wk
Utilization rate

Billable hrs ÷ total working hrs

%

Client Load

Active clients
clients
Expected attrition after raise

% of clients likely to leave

%

Your rate has lost 6.6% of its value

2 years at 3.5%/yr inflation means $90/hr today buys what $96/hr did when you set this rate. You need $96/hr just to stay even.

Market Position — Software Development

In range
$85/hr entry$140/hr mid$225/hr senior
$90/hr

Within market range for Software Development

Recommended New Rate

$99/hr
+10.0% from $90/hr

Based on: inflation catch-up, income target, market position, and tenure signal

Gentle (+7.5%)

$97/hr

+7.5% · $116,100/yr

Moderate (+15%)

$103/hr

+15.0% · $124,200/yr

Aggressive (+25%)

$113/hr

+25.0% · $135,000/yr

Client Attrition Scenario

If 20% of clients leave after the raise (1 of 5):

Before raise

$108,000/yr

5 clients · $90/hr

After raise + attrition

$95,040/yr

4 clients · $99/hr

Net change: -$12,960 (-12.0%)

Price of Saying Yes

Every hour at your old rate instead of your new rate costs $9. Say yes to one extra low-rate project per week for a year: $468 left on the table.

Current rate/hr

$90/hr

New rate/hr

$99/hr

Delta/wk/yr

$468

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