For many years I have produced the UK Freelance Ready Reckoner, designed to provide in tabular form comparable freelance day rates for equivalent annual gross salaries for employees in the range £20,000-£60,000. It is based on a detailed comparison of the costs for employers of using staff journalists (employees).
The 2015-16 edition of the UK Freelance Ready Reckoner is the last edition that I currently intend to produce. I am delighted to announce, however, that the National Union of Journalists will be working in partnership with me, to ensure that future editions of the Ready Reckoner can be produced.
The latest edition was published in September 2015. It is available here in HTML format, or can be downloaded as a PDF. See also Frequently Asked Questions and the accompanying media release.
Although not revised since 2015, the data on which the Ready Reckoner is based are unlikely to have changed dramatically since then. For the time being, therefore, the Ready Reckoner can still be used. Although designed for journalists, the Ready Reckoner may also be adapted for use by other freelance and self-employed workers in the UK
The Freelance Ready Reckoner 2015-16 © Andrew Bibby 2015.
| Equivalent annual gross salary | Total cost to employer | Total cost to employer per working day | Recomm-ended freelance day rate |
| 20000 | 31756 | 143 | 238 |
| 21000 | 32960 | 148 | 247 |
| 22000 | 34164 | 154 | 256 |
| 23000 | 35369 | 159 | 265 |
| 24000 | 36573 | 164 | 274 |
| 25000 | 37777 | 170 | 283 |
| 26000 | 38981 | 175 | 292 |
| 27000 | 40185 | 181 | 301 |
| 28000 | 41389 | 186 | 310 |
| 29000 | 42593 | 191 | 319 |
| 30000 | 43797 | 197 | 328 |
| 31000 | 45001 | 202 | 337 |
| 32000 | 46205 | 208 | 346 |
| 33000 | 47410 | 213 | 355 |
| 34000 | 48614 | 218 | 364 |
| 35000 | 50818 | 228 | 381 |
| 36000 | 52022 | 234 | 390 |
| 37000 | 53226 | 239 | 399 |
| 38000 | 54430 | 245 | 408 |
| 39000 | 55634 | 250 | 417 |
| 40000 | 56838 | 255 | 426 |
| 41000 | 58042 | 261 | 435 |
| 42000 | 59246 | 266 | 444 |
| 43000 | 60951 | 274 | 457 |
| 44000 | 62155 | 279 | 466 |
| 45000 | 63359 | 285 | 475 |
| 46000 | 64563 | 290 | 484 |
| 47000 | 65767 | 296 | 493 |
| 48000 | 66971 | 301 | 502 |
| 49000 | 68175 | 306 | 511 |
| 50000 | 69379 | 312 | 520 |
| 51000 | 70583 | 317 | 529 |
| 52000 | 71787 | 323 | 538 |
| 53000 | 72992 | 328 | 547 |
| 54000 | 74196 | 333 | 556 |
| 55000 | 75400 | 339 | 565 |
| 56000 | 76604 | 344 | 574 |
| 57000 | 77808 | 350 | 583 |
| 58000 | 79012 | 355 | 592 |
| 59000 | 80216 | 361 | 601 |
| 60000 | 81420 | 366 | 610 |
How to use this Ready Reckoner:
- Look in column 1: What equivalent annual salary would you expect to get, given your age, qualifications and experience, and bearing in mind comparable staff journalist salary levels?
- Look in column 3. This is the actual daily cost to the employer of employing a staff journalist (employee). See FAQs for details of the methodology used in reaching this figure.
- Look in column 4. This is the recommended daily income you would need to receive as a freelance for comparability with a staff journalist. It is based on the assumption that 3/5 th of work time is directly productive. See FAQs for more details.
Working as a freelance photographer? – see FAQs
Previous versions of the Freelance Ready Reckoner are available for 2013-14, 2011-12, 2009-10, 2007-8 and 2006-7.
Note: Every attempt has been made to base the Ready Reckoner on accurate current data, but no liability is accepted for any errors which have crept in.
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