United States Freelancer: Fees, Taxes & Net Pay Example

US freelancers pay federal income tax plus self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare) on net self-employment income. State and local income tax depends on where you live and work — California, New York, Texas, and Florida can produce very different net pay from the same Upwork invoice.

This page uses one combined 32% set-aside on the post-fee balance as a rough federal-heavy planning figure. It is not a substitute for quarterly estimates or state returns. For deductions and rebates, see our self-employed tax guide.

We do not publish separate net-pay pages for all 50 states yet. Use the calculator with your state’s combined estimate in the tax field, or start from this federal example and add your state rate. High-tax states (CA, NY, NJ) often need +5–10% on top of a federal-only guess; no-income-tax states (TX, FL, WA, NV) may need less.