What should I charge?
Almost every pricing guide tells you to “consider your costs and your competition.” That is not a number. These calculators start from what people in your trade actually earn in your state, then work out what you have to charge to match it while self-employed.
Bookkeeping
Hourly billing punishes bookkeepers for getting good at the job — which is why experienced bookkeepers move to monthly retainers.
Median wage $24.07/hr · top 10% $32.61/hr
Dog Grooming
Grooming prices are set by breed, coat condition and temperament — not by time — which is why groomers who quote by the hour end up underpaid on the hardest dogs.
Median wage $15.40/hr · top 10% $21.81/hr
Esthetics / Facials
Facials are priced per treatment, but retail and rebooking are where a home-based esthetics business actually becomes profitable.
Median wage $20.07/hr · top 10% $36.78/hr
Hair Braiding
Braiding is priced per style, and the hours vary enormously between them — which is why a flat "braids" price almost always loses money on the long ones.
Median wage $16.95/hr · top 10% $30.28/hr
Hair Styling
Colour work is where home-based stylists make or lose their margin, because product cost and chair time both scale with hair length.
Median wage $16.95/hr · top 10% $30.28/hr
Home Baking
Home bakers almost universally underprice, because ingredient cost feels like the whole cost — and it is usually under a quarter of it.
Median wage $17.43/hr · top 10% $22.62/hr
Home Daycare
In-home childcare is priced per child per week, and your income is capped by a state-mandated ratio — which makes your rate, not your hours, the only lever you have.
Median wage $15.25/hr · top 10% $18.49/hr
House Cleaning
Most cleaners quote a flat price per home but think in hourly terms — and get squeezed when a "standard clean" turns out to be a deep clean.
Median wage $16.56/hr · top 10% $19.47/hr
Lawn Care
Lawn care is won or lost on route density — the same mow earns very differently depending on how far you drove to reach it.
Median wage $19.08/hr · top 10% $24.03/hr
Massage Therapy
Massage is one of the few home-based trades with a hard physical ceiling on billable hours — which makes rate, not volume, the only sustainable lever.
Median wage $27.88/hr · top 10% $44.34/hr
Nail Technician
Nail services are priced per set, and the removal and repair work that surrounds them is where most techs quietly lose hours.
Median wage $16.51/hr · top 10% $23.33/hr
Personal Training
Trainers who sell single sessions compete on price; trainers who sell packages compete on results — and earn materially more per client.
Median wage $22.23/hr · top 10% $31.75/hr
Pet Sitting
Pet sitting is priced per visit, but the cost that actually decides your profitability is drive time between them.
Median wage $15.40/hr · top 10% $21.81/hr
Photography
The shoot is the visible part of the job and usually the smaller one — editing routinely takes longer than the session itself.
Median wage $20.96/hr · top 10% $36.04/hr
Tutoring
Tutoring rates are set by subject scarcity and outcome stakes far more than by your hours or credentials.
Median wage $19.81/hr · top 10% $31.50/hr
Why an employee wage is not your rate
If a groomer earns $18 an hour on payroll, charging $18 an hour self-employed is a substantial pay cut — not the same money.
Their employer was also paying half their Social Security and Medicare, their health cover, their retirement contribution and their paid time off. And critically, the employer paid them for the full day — including the hours spent on admin, travel, quoting and cleaning up, none of which a client will ever pay you for directly.
Add those back and the honest multiple is closer to 2 to 2.5x the employee wage. Every calculator here does that arithmetic explicitly, with each assumption exposed so you can argue with it.
Wage data: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS May 2024. Estimates only, not financial advice.