"Good" Is Relative
There's no single good hourly rate for freelancers. A rate that works for a developer in Austin is different from one that works for a copywriter in London or a designer in Lagos. "Good" means: covers your costs, funds your taxes, and leaves you with the income you targeted — with some margin to spare.
What the internet tells you ("developers charge $100–$200/hr," "designers charge $75–$150/hr") is a market range, not your rate. Market ranges tell you whether you're wildly out of step — they don't tell you what to charge.
What Actually Determines Your Rate
Five inputs drive your minimum viable rate:
1. Income goal — what you want to take home after taxes
2. Effective tax rate — self-employment tax (~15%) plus income tax, combined
3. Business expenses — software, equipment, insurance, anything you spend to do the work
4. Working weeks — how many weeks per year you'll actually work
5. Billable percentage — what fraction of your working hours you can actually bill
These five numbers, run through the formula, give you your floor. Anything above it is negotiation room.
A Concrete Example
Target: $70,000 net income. Tax rate: 28%. Monthly expenses: $500. Working 48 weeks, 35 hours/week, 65% billable.
- Gross up for tax: $70,000 ÷ 0.72 = $97,222 in profit needed
- Add expenses: $97,222 + $6,000 = $103,222 in gross revenue
- Billable hours: 48 × 35 × 0.65 = 1,092 hours/year
- Minimum rate: $103,222 ÷ 1,092 = $94/hr
With a 20% safety buffer, the quote rate is $113/hr.
Is $113/hr a "good" rate? For this person, it's the minimum that makes sense. Whether the market supports it depends on the skill, niche, and client. But at least the number is grounded in reality.
Calculate Yours
Use SoloRates to enter your own numbers and get your specific minimum and safe rate. Adjust the billable percentage — it's often the biggest surprise. Going from 70% billable to 60% can push your minimum rate up by $15–20/hr.