Gig Economy

Uber/Lyft earnings, freelance rate, 1099 tax, and side hustle calculators.

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Freelance Rate Calculator

Calculate your minimum freelance hourly rate based on desired income, expenses, taxes, and billable hours.
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Consulting Fee Calculator

Calculate your consulting rate based on income goals, billable hours, overhead, and profit margin.
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Side Hustle Income Calculator

Calculate what you actually keep from side hustle income after self-employment tax, federal, and state taxes.
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Uber/Lyft Earnings Calculator

Calculate Uber/Lyft driver earnings after gas, maintenance, and self-employment taxes.
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DoorDash Earnings Calculator

Calculate DoorDash delivery earnings after expenses and taxes. See effective hourly rate.
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Freelancer Invoice Calculator

Calculate freelance invoice totals with hourly/project rates, expenses, and payment terms.
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Side Business Tax Calculator

Calculate total taxes on side business income combined with your W-2 job.
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Contractor Hourly Rate Calculator

Calculate the hourly rate you need to charge to match a W-2 salary with benefits.

About Gig Economy Calculators

Gig and self-employment income gets taxed differently from a regular paycheck, and these calculators exist to translate gross earnings into the number you actually keep. The Freelance Rate Calculator and Contractor Hourly Rate Calculator work backward from your income goal, taxes, and unpaid overhead to the hourly rate you'd need to charge - including the W-2-equivalent rate that covers the benefits an employer would otherwise provide. The Consulting Fee Calculator does the same for project- or retainer-based work where billable hours are limited.

On the take-home side, the Uber/Lyft Earnings and DoorDash Earnings calculators subtract gas, vehicle wear, and self-employment tax to show a realistic effective hourly wage rather than the headline platform payout. The Side Hustle Income and Side Business Tax calculators model income that stacks on top of a W-2 job, where every extra dollar is taxed at your marginal federal bracket (10% to 37%) plus the 15.3% self-employment tax reported on Schedule SE.

Use them before you set a rate, accept a gig, or set aside money for an IRS quarterly estimated payment.

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is self-employment tax 15.3%, and who has to pay it?
When you work for yourself, you owe both the employee and employer share of Social Security and Medicare, which the IRS calls self-employment tax. It runs 15.3% on net earnings - 12.4% for Social Security up to the SSA wage base of $184,500, plus 2.9% for Medicare with no cap. You generally owe it once your net self-employment earnings reach $400 for the year, and it's calculated on Schedule SE separately from regular income tax.
Do I have to pay taxes quarterly on gig income?
If you expect to owe at least $1,000 in tax for the year and don't have enough withheld elsewhere, the IRS expects estimated payments four times a year using Form 1040-ES. Drivers, freelancers, and side-business owners commonly fall into this because platforms like Uber and DoorDash withhold nothing. Paying through the IRS safe-harbor rules - generally covering 100% of last year's tax, or 110% for higher earners - avoids an underpayment penalty even if you owe more at filing.
Can rideshare and delivery drivers deduct mileage?
Yes. Drivers can deduct business miles using the IRS standard mileage rate, which the IRS sets and updates each year, or instead deduct actual vehicle costs like gas, repairs, and depreciation. You can't use both methods for the same vehicle in the same year. Mileage from your home to your first pickup and back is usually treated as non-deductible commuting, so a contemporaneous mileage log matters if the IRS asks.
How should I price a freelance rate against a W-2 salary?
A 1099 contractor rate has to cover what an employer normally pays on top of salary: the employer half of payroll taxes, health insurance, paid time off, and unpaid hours spent on admin and finding clients. Because billable hours are always fewer than 40 a week, the equivalent hourly rate is typically well above simply dividing a salary by 2,080. Working backward from target income, overhead, and realistic billable hours is what the rate and contractor calculators are built to do.
Will my side hustle push me into a higher tax bracket?
Side income stacks on top of your W-2 wages, so it's taxed at your marginal rate - the top federal bracket your total income reaches, somewhere from 10% to 37%. Only the dollars above each bracket threshold are taxed at the higher rate, so a side gig never lowers your take-home on existing income. It does add the 15.3% self-employment tax on the gig portion, which is why net side income is often smaller than people expect.