Freelance Take-Home Pay Calculator

What actually lands in your account

"I made $120,000 last year" and "I kept $120,000 last year" are two very different sentences, and for freelancers the gap between them is large. Between business expenses, self-employment tax, federal income tax, and state tax, a big chunk of your gross revenue never reaches your pocket. This calculator runs the whole chain and shows you the number that actually matters: your take-home, both per year and per month.

Enter your gross revenue, your business expenses, your filing status, the tax year, and an optional state rate. The tool subtracts expenses to get your net profit, runs the full federal tax calculation our tax tools use, subtracts a state estimate, and shows what's left — plus the tax pieces that came out along the way.

Where the money goes

Four things stand between gross revenue and take-home:

1. Business expenses. The cost of running your business — software, equipment, insurance, fees, mileage. These come off first and define your net profit. 2. Self-employment tax. 15.3% of your net earnings for Social Security and Medicare — both halves, because there's no employer to split it with. This alone surprises people who are used to a W-2. 3. Federal income tax. Calculated on your taxable income after the standard deduction, the deductible half of your SE tax, and the qualified business income (QBI) deduction where you qualify. 4. State income tax. If your state has one. We model it as a flat rate you enter, since full 50-state logic is out of scope for an estimate.

After all four, most US freelancers keep somewhere in the neighborhood of 60–75% of gross revenue — but your figure depends entirely on your income, expenses, filing status, and state, which is why the tool computes yours specifically.

Why the monthly number matters most

The annual take-home is useful, but the monthly figure is what you budget on. Freelance income is lumpy; your rent isn't. Knowing your true monthly take-home — after tax is set aside, not before — is the foundation of a budget that survives a slow month. Pair this with the Tax Set-Aside calculator so the tax portion is parked as you get paid, and with the Irregular Income Budget tool to plan around your reliable minimum.

Nothing is withheld — that's the catch

At a W-2 job, taxes vanish from your paycheck before you see the money. As a freelancer, the full payment hits your account and *feels* like yours. It isn't. The self-employment and income tax shown here has to be set aside by you and paid through quarterly estimates. The freelancers who get burned at tax time are almost always the ones who budgeted on gross and forgot this step.

What this is

An estimate for planning, not tax advice. It assumes a sole proprietor on Schedule C taking the standard deduction, one business, and no S-corp election; state tax is a flat approximation. For a filed return, work with a CPA or EA — but for knowing what you can actually spend each month, this is the number to start from.