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What to charge as a copywriter

Copywriting is priced by the hour, by the word and by the project, and the per-word rate is the one that quietly punishes you. Start from what you need to earn, then convert.

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What copywriters charge

What was measuredRateSource
Freelance copywriters on Upwork, typical hourly range$19 to $45 an hourUpwork
Freelance copywriters on Upwork, median$30 an hourUpwork
Upwork by experience: entry, intermediate, expert$20 to $30, $30 to $50, $50 to $150 an hourUpwork
Writers and authors in the US, copywriters included, median, May 2025$36.98 an hourUS Bureau of Labor Statistics
The same, as a year$76,910US Bureau of Labor Statistics
Lowest and highest tenthunder $44,310, over $139,870 a yearUS Bureau of Labor Statistics

Upwork's figures are hourly contracts on its marketplace, worldwide. The Bureau of Labor Statistics counts copywriters within writers and authors, and 65 per cent of that group is self-employed, so its figures mix wages and freelance earnings.

Neither source publishes a per-word rate, and a per-word price only means something next to the words you finish in an hour. Work out the hourly floor below and the page converts it to a price per word for your own speed.

Start from your own numbers

Work out the floor first. The per-word conversion appears underneath once you have it.

After tax. What actually reaches your account.
Software, insurance, hardware, accountant, workspace, training.
Everything you set aside before the money is yours.
52 minus holiday, illness and the week you lose to admin.
The one people get wrong. Pitching, quoting, invoicing, chasing, marketing and admin are not billable.
You need to charge at least
an hour
half day, 3.5h
day, 7.5h
week
Revenue you have to bill
Hours you actually work
Hours you can invoice
Hours you work and cannot invoice

Convert it to a per-word price

Finished, not drafted. Include the research, the brief, the reading and the two rewrites.
per word
for that piece
hours it assumes

Halve the words an hour and the per-word rate has to double to earn the same money.

How it works

Everything on this page is worked out in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere or stored when you close the tab.

Doing this often? OBSCURA Books keeps a copywriter's invoices, bills and bank in one set of books, with the VAT return and the self-assessment figures at the year end. On its own, US$4 a month; with everything else, US$9 a month or US$79 a year. 7 days free.