How Much Should I Charge?
Pick your service and see a suggested price, a range to negotiate and a quote you can text or email to your client.
- Free, no sign-up
- 32 services
- Every step of the math shown
How Much to Charge by Service
Reference rates by experience and state, what to include in the price and the most common mistakes for each job.
Guides
How the Math Works
No black box. Here is the whole calculation:
- Hourly rate: starts from the reference for your service (table on the side), adjusted for your experience and your state's cost of living. A big city or metro area adds 8%.
- Labor: hourly rate × time on the job, adjusted for your positioning (entry −10%, premium +25%).
- Costs: materials and travel are added in full, with no markup.
- Card fee: built into the price so you take home the full amount.
- Negotiation range: from 10% below to 15% above the labor. Your costs are never discounted.
The hourly references are rough figures for an intermediate level and change a lot from place to place. Use them as a starting point, not as an official price list.
| Service | Reference per hour |
|---|---|
| Nail technician | $45 |
| Hair stylist | $60 |
| Makeup artist | $75 |
| Lash & brow artist | $60 |
| Massage therapist | $80 |
| House cleaning | $35 |
| Handyman | $65 |
| House painter | $50 |
| Electrician | $95 |
| Plumber | $100 |
| Furniture assembly | $55 |
| Lawn care & landscaping | $50 |
| Pressure washing | $75 |
| Babysitting | $22 |
| Senior care | $30 |
| Dog walking & pet sitting | $25 |
| Tutoring | $55 |
| Language lessons | $50 |
| Personal trainer | $70 |
| Graphic design | $75 |
| Social media management | $55 |
| Web design & development | $100 |
| Copywriting & content writing | $65 |
| Translation | $50 |
| Video editing | $65 |
| Photography | $125 |
| Virtual assistant | $35 |
| Custom cakes & baking | $35 |
| Sewing & alterations | $40 |
| Crafts & custom gifts | $30 |
| Consulting | $150 |
| Bookkeeping | $60 |
Find Your Hourly Rate
If you work for yourself, your hourly rate has to pay your salary, your taxes and your business costs, including the hours nobody pays for: marketing, driving, quotes that don't close.
Fill this in and use the result in the calculator above. The full walkthrough is in How to Calculate Your Hourly Rate as a Freelancer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where do the hourly rates come from?
They're rough reference points for someone at an intermediate level, meant as a starting point. They are not an official survey, and real prices vary a lot from city to city and even between neighborhoods. If you already know what your hour is worth, use "I already know my hourly rate".
Should I charge for materials separately?
You don't have to list them separately, but they have to be in the price. A common mistake is charging only for labor and paying for supplies out of your own pocket. In the calculator, materials and travel are added to the final price in full.
Why does a card payment raise the price?
If a client pays $100 by card and the processor keeps 3%, you get $97. The calculator builds the fee into the price so you take home the full amount. You can also offer the lower price for cash, Zelle or Venmo.
What about taxes?
When you work for yourself, nobody withholds taxes for you. The price you charge has to cover self-employment tax and income tax. The hourly rate calculator below lets you set aside a percentage for that.
The client says it's too expensive. Now what?
Use the negotiation range: you can go down to the minimum without losing money. Another option is to take something out of what is included instead of lowering the price for the same job.
Is the calculator free?
Yes. It's free and there's no sign-up. Nothing you type into the calculator is sent to us: the math runs on your own device.
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