Salary to Hourly Rate Calculator

Developed by the Story Arts Research Lab as part of a research project. For questions or comments, please contact Kelly McConvey, Research Lead, at kmcconvey@centennialcollege.ca.

Freelancers often assume financial risks without the benefits of being a traditional employee. Use this calculator to convert your full-time, annual salary as an employee into an estimated freelance hourly rate.

Annual Full Time Salary (Gross)

Enter the annual amount you make or wish to make in a traditional, permanent full-time position.

Expenses

Health Benefits

Health benefits are highly variable and can range from just $30 per month to over $200. It is a good idea to research insurance options to determine what plan (if any) makes sense for you. Alternatively, you could decide to take the amount you would pay in premiums and save it as a "Health Emergency Fund." This is a very personal decision that requires careful consideration. We've used $80 as a general monthly plan cost, but you should adjust it to what is more accurate for your individual needs.

Life Insurance

Like Health Insurance, Life Insurance varies largely from person to person and based on the type of insurance. Do some research to make an informed decision about your specific needs. We've used $30/month as a general guideline (for modest coverage of a 20-30 year old).

CPP

Freelancers must remit 9.9% of their income to CPP, the Canada Pension Plan. This is 5% more than those in traditional employment (where the employer remits 4.9% for you).

Time Off

Statutory Holidays

Those in traditional employment are compenstated for statutory holidays. The number of stat. holidays vary by province. Please select your province of employment.

Vacation

As a freelancer, you won't get paid for vacation time so you need to build it into your hourly rate. Enter the number of weeks per year you expect take. As a guideline, those at the beginning of their careers usually get 2-3 weeks of paid vacation, while more senior employees get 4-5.

weeks

Sick Days

You also won't get paid for days you cannot work due to illness. Five sick days per year is standard across industries and postions. If there is a high liklihood of ilness due to your job (working around children, for example), you may want to add in some extra time.

days

Non-billable Hours

Non-billable hours are the hours you spend each week not on work for your client. This can be time spent invoicing and collecting payments, managing your business's finances, or pursuing future work. The percentage of your time that is non-billable can vary greatly. If you have longer-term contracts (6 months or more) that are full-time, you will likely need to allocate a much smaller amount of time to managing your business. If you have multiple clients at once, and work short or irregular contracts, you will likely spend a lot of your time managing your business. Enter your non billable hours as a percentage of your time, with the range of 5% to 30% as a general guideline.

Additional Expenses

Office Space

Working as a freelancer may require you to rent additional office space. This could be in a cosharing facility (starting at about $100/month) or a private office (starting at $1000/month in Toronto). Alternatively, you may find that you need to find a larger place to live as a result of working from home (generally starting at atleast $200 more/month). Or you may find that you can work comfortably from your home or your local library, and you have no additional office space requirements.

Associations/Certification

Some fields require membership in industry associations or certification. These costs are often covered by a traditional employer but as a freelancer, you will need to build them into your hourly rate.

Supplies & Capital Expenses

Will working for yourself require you to purchase software licenses or hardware? Or maybe you will require a car or autoshare membership? Enter any additional, annual expenses you will have as a freelancer here.