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Ask HN: Freelancer Rates in the US

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Re: Ask HN: Freelancer Rates in the US

#22
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

#23
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

Assuming you meant 150/hr...

Freelancers have costs that W2 employees do not, like self employment taxes and the full cost of health insurance.

Re: Ask HN: Freelancer Rates in the US

#24

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.

In some countries say like India, a freelancer can register as a one person business/one person company and all income treated as business income. This way your tax payable becomes based on income-business expenses similar to an LLC or corp.

Re: Ask HN: Freelancer Rates in the US

#26

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?

In my experience, taxes in US are not lower if you include health insurance premiums and out of pocket healthcare costs.

The US is great if you’re in top 10% of incomes, but if you can’t afford to take advantage of the money tax exemptions and credits, then it’s not any better for the middle 30% to 70% of income earners who don’t make enough for government assistance, but also don’t make enough to take advantage of the tax code.

Re: Ask HN: Freelancer Rates in the US

#27

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?

Really depends on your country, but expenses + taxes can be from 1/2-2/3 depending on your location.

Re: Ask HN: Freelancer Rates in the US

#30
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.

Most likely desperate very short term one off contracts.

Almost meaningless to talk about hourly rate without also providing the length of the contract.

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