Your rate is a formula.
Most freelancers set rates by guessing what the market will tolerate. The durable method inverts it: your USD income goal, your real billable hours, your fee band — produce a floor rate below which every contract loses money. This page is the formula; the calculator applies the fee side.
The floor-rate formula.
Billable hours: the number that breaks rates.
Administrative reality eats 20-35% of a 40-hour week: proposals, calls, invoicing, chasing payments, tool maintenance. Freelancers who divide their goal by 2,080 hours produce a floor that guarantees underpricing. Use 1,300-1,500 billable hours/year (30 hrs/wk × 46 wks with time off) until you have twelve months of your own timesheet data — then use that instead.
The net multiplier, plainly: if your fee band takes 8% of revenue and overhead runs $2,400/yr, revenue needed = (goal + overhead) ÷ (1 − 0.08). Plug your corridor's band — the calculator's annual fee number on your real invoices is better data than a hypothetical. Fiverr-route freelancers discover the multiplier pushes their required rate to a level their platform listings can never hit: that is not a pricing failure, it is the platform model.
Anchoring the ceiling: floor rate protects the bottom; the ceiling comes from the buyer's side — what US companies pay for your skill level in your niche (research per niche: job boards, salary data, competitor offers; do not trust generic "average rates" lists). Between floor and market ceiling sits your positioning: proof (portfolio), trust (stack), and the anchor you state first (anchoring page).
Fee side, solved in 20 seconds.
The calculator applies your corridor band (midpoint or conservative) to real invoice amounts — the missing variable in every rate spreadsheet. The Kit's rate card sets the number and how to present it.
Questions.
How much should a Nigerian freelancer charge per hour in 2026?
There is no honest single number — skill, niche and client market dominate. What is honest: your floor (income goal + fees + overhead ÷ real billable hours, ≈ $40/hr on a $36k example) and your ceiling (US-market rates for your skill, researched per niche). Set between them; never below floor.
How do currency fees factor into my rate?
Add your corridor's fee band to revenue needs: direct rails 2-7.5% barely move the floor; the Fiverr band 22-28% adds ~$9-11/hr to it. This is why rail choice is a pricing decision, not just an ops one.
Should I charge in USD or local currency?
Quote and contract in USD (income reality is USD); convert to local currency on your schedule per the currency-strategy page. Local-currency quotes reintroduce the FX risk into your fee — you become the exchange rate.
How many billable hours per year should I assume?
Start at 1,300-1,500 (about 30 hrs/wk × 46 wks) — it prices in admin, sales and downtime. Replace the estimate with your own twelve-month timesheet as soon as you have one.