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Ask HN: Freelancer Rates in the US

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Re: Ask HN: Freelancer Rates in the US

#11

Post by [deleted] »

AzzieElbab wrote: post #8
gt2 wrote: post #2

Like anything else you can find all ranges offered and all ranges accepted. I thought the exact opposite was the norm, with higher rates in US companies than UK/europe. Senior level rates in US range from 100-300/hr. I know it's a big range, but it comes down to speed, creativity, references, portfolio, fit for the project, availability. As far as the half the money as a 9-5, it's actually the other way around-- as a…

150/hr sums up to 200k/year if you work 30 hours a week for 11 months. ----- Fixed typo

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Freelancer Rates in the US

#12

Post by phamilton »

dirtnugget wrote: post #6
blocked_again wrote: post #5

Since the project is long term, 20$ - 30$ per hour comes to around $41k - $61k per year. This is a pretty good amount in the vast majority of the countries. The target audience is obviously not developers living in Silicon Valley. Probably looking for developers from Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa or South America. Also, there are a lot of countries that offer tax benefits when you are working as a freelancer.

That’s 40-60k before taxes. I realize that taxes I’m the IS are much lower, but do you have any idea on a rough percentage?

At $60k from freelancing, take home will be around $40k.

Re: Ask HN: Freelancer Rates in the US

#13

Post by Adirael »

AzzieElbab wrote: post #8
gt2 wrote: post #2

Like anything else you can find all ranges offered and all ranges accepted. I thought the exact opposite was the norm, with higher rates in US companies than UK/europe. Senior level rates in US range from 100-300/hr. I know it's a big range, but it comes down to speed, creativity, references, portfolio, fit for the project, availability. As far as the half the money as a 9-5, it's actually the other way around-- as a…

150/hr sums up to 200k/year if you work 30 hours a week for 11 months. ----- Fixed typo

15 * 30 * 4 * 12 = 21600

Re: Ask HN: Freelancer Rates in the US

#14

Post by pulse7 »

AzzieElbab wrote: post #8
gt2 wrote: post #2

Like anything else you can find all ranges offered and all ranges accepted. I thought the exact opposite was the norm, with higher rates in US companies than UK/europe. Senior level rates in US range from 100-300/hr. I know it's a big range, but it comes down to speed, creativity, references, portfolio, fit for the project, availability. As far as the half the money as a 9-5, it's actually the other way around-- as a…

150/hr sums up to 200k/year if you work 30 hours a week for 11 months. ----- Fixed typo

Mistake: it should be "150/hr" instead of "15/hr"

Re: Ask HN: Freelancer Rates in the US

#15

Post by [deleted] »

AzzieElbab wrote: post #8
gt2 wrote: post #2

Like anything else you can find all ranges offered and all ranges accepted. I thought the exact opposite was the norm, with higher rates in US companies than UK/europe. Senior level rates in US range from 100-300/hr. I know it's a big range, but it comes down to speed, creativity, references, portfolio, fit for the project, availability. As far as the half the money as a 9-5, it's actually the other way around-- as a…

150/hr sums up to 200k/year if you work 30 hours a week for 11 months. ----- Fixed typo

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Freelancer Rates in the US

#16

Post by lotsofpulp »

jxf wrote: post #7
dirtnugget wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How much does somebody in this kind of field in the US pay in taxes? As for me (Germany) I have to basically give away half, such a posting would pay me basically like a very entry position after taxes.

In the US you would pay roughly 35% to 40% in taxes. However (in general), expenses incurred in the course of your business would not be taxable. For example, if you earned $150,000 as a contractor, but you incurred $30,000 in expenses then you would have $120,000 in potentially taxable income. The tax code is very, very complex, though, and there isn't a simple answer to this question. There are a vast array of fact…

I would include health insurance premiums in the US as a tax when comparing to other developed countries since they don’t have to pay those. Easily $5k/per family member per year plus $28k available in case of emergencies due to out of pocket maximums and $10k to $15k per family member per year if you’re 45+.

Re: Ask HN: Freelancer Rates in the US

#17

Post by Arubis »

AzzieElbab wrote: post #8
gt2 wrote: post #2

Like anything else you can find all ranges offered and all ranges accepted. I thought the exact opposite was the norm, with higher rates in US companies than UK/europe. Senior level rates in US range from 100-300/hr. I know it's a big range, but it comes down to speed, creativity, references, portfolio, fit for the project, availability. As far as the half the money as a 9-5, it's actually the other way around-- as a…

150/hr sums up to 200k/year if you work 30 hours a week for 11 months. ----- Fixed typo

Tl;dr: I charge a fair amount (effectively well into $three digits/hr) and making what I have previously at a w2 is a real fight.

Presuming you meant $150/hr: indeed, and if you’re freelancing, you almost certainly don’t have that high a proportion of billable time. Prospecting, marketing, deliberate learning, and other overhead are all necessary parts of the deal and can easily take half your available time. I tend to do all that in downtime between contracts, so it’ll look like 25-35 billable hours per week but with maybe 25-30 weeks/year utilization. Others just overlap everything; works well with longer contracts.

Re: Ask HN: Freelancer Rates in the US

#18

Post by [deleted] »

AzzieElbab wrote: post #8
gt2 wrote: post #2

Like anything else you can find all ranges offered and all ranges accepted. I thought the exact opposite was the norm, with higher rates in US companies than UK/europe. Senior level rates in US range from 100-300/hr. I know it's a big range, but it comes down to speed, creativity, references, portfolio, fit for the project, availability. As far as the half the money as a 9-5, it's actually the other way around-- as a…

150/hr sums up to 200k/year if you work 30 hours a week for 11 months. ----- Fixed typo

[deleted]

Re: Ask HN: Freelancer Rates in the US

#19

Post by Ididntdothis »

sourc3 wrote: post #3

Expected? Yes. Normal? Yes. Only thing there is out there? No. For every $30/hr posting on the net, there is another one for $100. I also personally know of folks who are making +$150 with Django. It really depends on who you work for. Although you will see a lot more of `build Uber for $5K` type of one off jobs, there are some reputable companies who need more capacity on new projects. If I were you I would cast a w…

Who pays >150? I always hear about this but neither as freelancer or as employee who hires freelancers I have ever seen somebody making that much as freelancer. Sometimes consulting companies charge that much but the freelancers probably get paid only a fraction of that.

Re: Ask HN: Freelancer Rates in the US

#20

Post by [deleted] »

AzzieElbab wrote: post #8
gt2 wrote: post #2

Like anything else you can find all ranges offered and all ranges accepted. I thought the exact opposite was the norm, with higher rates in US companies than UK/europe. Senior level rates in US range from 100-300/hr. I know it's a big range, but it comes down to speed, creativity, references, portfolio, fit for the project, availability. As far as the half the money as a 9-5, it's actually the other way around-- as a…

150/hr sums up to 200k/year if you work 30 hours a week for 11 months. ----- Fixed typo

[deleted]
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