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FREELANCE RATES REFERENCE

Freelance rates by profession.
Built from public wage data.

Start from what employers pay, using US Bureau of Labor Statistics wages for May 2025, then adjust for benefits, business costs and unbilled time to get an indicative freelance rate.

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Your assumptions

Your assumption for what an employer adds on top of wages.
Your assumption: software, insurance, equipment, accountant.
Time you can charge to clients.

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Result

Indicative freelance hourly rate: US$69.62

Employee hourly wage (May 2025)
US$30.27
Indicative freelance rate
US$69.62
Indicative day rate (8 hours)
US$556.96

Wage data: US Bureau of Labor Statistics OEWS, May 2025, Graphic Designers (SOC 27-1024). These are employee wages, not freelance rates. Refine the result with the hourly rate calculator.

US employee hourly wages by occupation from BLS OEWS May 2025, with an indicative freelance rate at the median using your assumptions
Profession (SOC)25th pctMedian75th pctIndicative freelance rate (median)
Graphic designer (27-1024)US$23.58US$30.27US$39.34US$69.62
Web and digital interface (UX/UI) designer (15-1255)US$35.24US$50.00US$76.36US$115.00
Web developer (15-1254)US$30.88US$44.54US$60.69US$102.44
Software developer (15-1252)US$50.58US$65.38US$82.68US$150.37
Management consultant (management analyst) (13-1111)US$37.48US$48.97US$64.12US$112.63
Marketing specialist (13-1161)US$28.05US$37.87US$52.07US$87.10
PR specialist (27-3031)US$27.05US$35.94US$48.25US$82.66
Writer (27-3043)US$28.00US$36.98US$49.01US$85.05
Accountant (13-2011)US$32.22US$40.23US$52.80US$92.53
Architect (17-1011)US$37.48US$47.73US$60.84US$109.78
Lawyer (23-1011)US$49.51US$76.76US$106.43US$176.55
Photographer (27-4021)US$17.33US$21.47US$30.16US$49.38

How to use the rate finder

  1. Choose a Profession from the list.
  2. Pick the Employee wage point: 25th percentile, median or 75th percentile.
  3. Adjust Benefits and employer taxes, Business costs and the Billable share of hours to match how you work.
  4. Read the Indicative freelance hourly rate, then compare it with the full table below.

Where the numbers come from

The wages are US national hourly wages for employees from the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS), May 2025 estimates, retrieved from the BLS Public Data API on 2026-10-23. They are what employers pay employees, not what freelancers charge. We don’t publish survey data of freelance rates.

How the indicative rate is worked out

  • Start with the employee hourly wage at the 25th percentile, median or 75th percentile.
  • Add benefits and employer taxes that a freelancer has to cover themselves. The default is an assumption you can change.
  • Add business costs such as software, insurance and an accountant. Also an adjustable assumption.
  • Divide by your billable share, because freelancers can’t charge for sales, admin or gaps between projects.

Indicative rate = wage × (1 + benefits) × (1 + business costs) ÷ billable share. For a fuller calculation from your own income target, use the hourly rate calculator. The tool runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is sent to Angelwood or saved on a server.

Worked example

The median hourly wage for graphic designers was $30.27 in May 2025. Adding 30% for benefits and 15% for business costs, then dividing by a 65% billable share, gives an indicative freelance rate of about $69.62 an hour.

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GOOD QUESTIONS

Questions people ask.

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Are these real freelance rates?

No. They’re employee wages from the BLS, converted to an indicative freelance rate with assumptions you control. Use them as a starting point alongside what clients in your market pay.

Why is the freelance rate so much higher than the wage?

A freelancer pays for their own benefits, payroll taxes, equipment and software, and can’t bill every working hour. The rate has to cover all of that.

Do the figures apply outside the US?

The wages are US national figures. Rates in other countries differ, so adjust using local wage data where you work.

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