Copywriters often quote per project but still need a defensible hourly floor, because research, revisions, and pitching eat a large share of the week. This calculator turns the take-home you want into the hourly rate your project quotes have to clear.
| Billable hours per year | — |
| Gross revenue you must bill | — |
| Estimated tax at your rate | — |
| Business expenses recovered | — |
| Resulting take-home (check) | — |
This tool does math on the numbers you enter. It is not tax or financial advice and contains no built-in tax tables — enter your own effective rate (a tax professional can help you estimate it). Figures are estimates for planning only.
| Typical low | $40/hr |
| Common average | $75/hr |
| Specialized / certified high | $150/hr |
Benchmarks are gathered from public salary and marketplace data and refreshed periodically. Treat them as orientation — your required rate from the calculator above is the number that matters for your situation.
The most common pricing mistake is dividing a target salary by 2,080 hours. That ignores three things every freelancer carries: self-employment tax, business expenses (research and SEO tools, portfolio site, stock/reference subscriptions, professional development), and the large share of the week that is never billable. This calculator builds all three in, then solves for the rate that leaves you with the take-home you entered.
US freelance copywriters commonly bill $40–$150/hour, with conversion, technical, and long-form specialists at the top. Most experienced copywriters quote per project but back it with an internal hourly floor — compute yours above and divide project quotes by estimated hours to check you clear it.
Per-project pricing usually earns more because clients buy the outcome, not your time. Use this calculator to set the hourly floor, then price projects above it. For building a quote, pair it with a cost-plus project estimate that includes a revision buffer.
Revisions are billable hours that rarely get quoted. Either bake a revision buffer into project quotes or lower your billable percentage here so the rate accounts for the time revisions consume.