How do you price when you don’t know what others charge?
Forget the market rate and find your floor: the least an hour has to earn to cover your life, your costs and your tax. Then test it this week against what clients paid before, what the alternatives cost, and how people react when they hear it.
Everyone wants the market rate. For most professions nobody publishes one, the people who know won’t say, and the number you find online was written by somebody selling a course. So start with what you can find out yourself.
- 1
Work out your floor
Below it, every booking costs you money. With the example numbers it’s $134 an hour at 15 billed hours a week. The calculator works out yours in two minutes.
- 2
Ask what clients paid before
Somebody who has hired help like yours knows exactly what they paid. Ask your first few clients, or the people you’d like as clients, what the last person charged.
- 3
Read the public listings
Many professions list themselves in directories with their rates on show. Ten listings in your field tell you more than a survey does.
- 4
Use a survey, where one exists
A few professions have a dated survey with a stated sample, such as the two below. Use it to check your floor isn’t far from what others charge, not to set it.
- 5
Look at what the client compares you with
A career coach is weighed against a résumé service, a personal trainer against a gym membership. The alternative sets a client’s sense of value more than your competitors do.
- 6
Say it out loud, and listen
Quote the price to the next three people who ask. If nobody pauses, it’s low. If everybody does, look at what you’re offering for it before you touch the number.
- 7
Put a date on it
Write the price down with a date three months out, and look again then. A price is a decision you revisit, not a test you pass once.
| Profession | What the survey found | Who asked, and when |
|---|---|---|
| Therapists in the US, private pay | A typical session averaged $143.26 | A study of Psychology Today listings, 175,083 providers, read September to December 2023; Health Affairs Scholar, 2024 |
| Therapists in the US, private pay | Nearly 80% charge between $100 and $200 a session | A survey of 1,216 therapists by Heard, February 2023 |
| Freelance writers in the US | $65 to $75 an hour for business and marketing writing, as the median range | The Editorial Freelancers Association, over 1,100 members, for 2025 work |
| Freelance copywriters in the UK | A median day rate of £440 | ProCopywriters, 573 copywriters, 2026 |
Sources: Health Affairs Scholar, Insurance acceptance and cash pay rates for psychotherapy in the US (2024); Behavioral Health Business, on Heard’s 2023 survey of therapists; Editorial Freelancers Association, rates; ProCopywriters, the 2026 survey. Checked 2026-10-11.