Hourly rate calculator for makers
The hourly rate to put into your prices, worked back from the income you want, the costs of running your business and the hours you can really sell.
Charge at least
$33.40 / hour
for each hour you sell or spend making, to bring in $36,000.00 a year
- Averaged over all work hours
- $23.38
- Labour, 45-min item
- $25.05
Making 1,078 hHolidays 231 hSick & slack 49 hAdmin 462 h
| Working days a year | 220 |
|---|---|
| Working hours | 1,540 |
| Hours you can charge for | 1,078 |
| Income + expenses a year | $36,000.00 |
| … per month | $3,000.00 |
| … per week | $692.31 |
| … per working day | $163.64 |
Educational estimates, not financial or tax advice.
Why the rate is higher than income ÷ hours
An employee is paid for holidays and for the hours spent in meetings. A maker is paid only for the hours that go into things people buy, so the rate for those hours has to carry everything else: time off, sick days, photographing and listing, packing orders, answering messages and keeping the books.
Working days = 52 × days a week − holidays − sick days
Billable hours = working days × hours a day × (1 − admin share)
Hourly rate = (income + expenses) ÷ billable hours
Enter the income you want before tax and the business costs the rate must cover each year. Be honest about admin: tracking one ordinary week usually shows how much of it nobody pays for directly. Add the minutes one piece takes and the result shows the labour cost to carry into the pricing calculator.
Questions
Should the income be before or after tax?
Before tax. The calculator does not work out tax, which depends on where you live and on your other income. Enter the pre-tax figure you are aiming for and check what you will owe on it with your tax authority or an adviser.
What counts as a business expense here?
Whatever the business pays for in a year that is not part of a product: equipment, studio rent, software, insurance, your website, fair fees, travel to markets. Materials are better priced per item in the pricing calculator.
What does "averaged over all work hours" mean?
It spreads the same yearly income over every hour you work, admin included. It is what you effectively earn per hour worked when you charge the full rate, and the fairer figure to compare with a salaried job.