Hourly Rate Calculator
Find the minimum you need to charge per hour to hit your income goals.
Studio rent, software, marketing. Not materials.
Minimum Hourly Rate
$0.00
per hour of labor
Pricing handmade goods is one of the hardest parts of running a craft business. Most makers start by copying what they see at other booths, but that approach ignores your own costs and income needs entirely. This calculator works backwards from what you actually want to take home so you can set a floor that makes sense for your situation.
The tax and overhead fields adjust for the real cost of self-employment. Self-employment taxes in the US run around 15% on top of income tax, so many full-time makers set their combined rate between 25% and 35%. Overhead covers the fixed costs of running your business year-round: booth supplies, website fees, market memberships, studio rent. Materials for specific products are added separately at the item level.
Once you have your hourly floor, use the product table to find the minimum labor cost for items that take different amounts of time to make. A piece that takes four hours has four times the labor cost of a one-hour piece, and your prices need to reflect that before you add a single dollar of materials. Knowing this number keeps you from accidentally selling your most complex work at a loss.