Day Rate to Salary Calculator
Compare contracting and employment fairly. Convert a day rate into the salary it is roughly worth, or a salary into the day rate you would need to charge. Nothing is sent anywhere.
Why a day rate is not a salary divided by 260
There are about 260 weekdays in a year, so a 60,000 salary looks like 230 a day. But an employee is paid for holidays, sick days, public holidays, training days and the quiet weeks in December. A contractor is paid only for days actually worked and invoiced, and covers their own pension, insurance, equipment, accountant, and the gaps between contracts. Comparing the two numbers directly makes contracting look far more lucrative than it is, and makes contractors underprice themselves when they switch.
The two adjustments this calculator makes
Billable days. Start from 260 weekdays, subtract public holidays (about 10), holiday you intend to take (20 to 25), sick days (5), and time between contracts or on unpaid admin (10 to 20). That leaves roughly 210 to 225 billable days for a fully booked contractor. Use 200 if your market has real gaps between engagements.
Overhead percentage. This covers what an employer would have paid on top of salary: employer social contributions or payroll tax, pension contributions, health or other insurance, training, equipment, and a premium for the risk of no notice period. Time off is already handled by the billable-days figure, so do not count it twice here. Employer on-costs vary widely by country, from well under 20% to over 40%; adding the contractor's own business costs and risk, 25% to 40% is a common working range. The default of 25% is deliberately conservative.
Reading the result
If you are a contractor, the "equivalent salary" is the permanent offer you should treat as a like-for-like match, not the headline revenue. If you are an employee considering contracting, the "required day rate" is your floor. Anything below it is a pay cut disguised as a bigger number. Our hourly rate calculator goes a step further and works from your actual costs and target income.
Frequently asked questions
Should I include tax?
No. Both salary and contractor revenue here are before personal income tax. Tax treatment differs by country and structure, so compare pre-tax figures and ask an accountant about the rest.
What about contractor tax status rules or umbrella companies?
Rules such as the UK's off-payroll working rules change how contract income is taxed and what is deducted before it reaches you. That is outside this calculator; ask an accountant, and increase the overhead percentage to reflect any deductions from your rate.
Is my data stored?
No. Everything runs in your browser.