Indep. Consultants: how much do you charge?
 

Are any of you self-employed as independent contract consultants in the mechanical engineering field. If so, how much do you charge on an hourly basis?

any input helpful. thanks.

Doing computer work (anything from malware/virus removal to programming to small network setup/maintainence) I charge 3.5 times what my employer (doing the same stuff, along with teaching workshops) pays me, with a 1 hour minimum.

Not much of a help, but plan on 3x-4x what you would get paid at a job to make it "equal" - after fica, ss, insurance, etc. is paid out.

I've had a need for SolidWorks designers a couple of times in the past couple of months, and paid anything from $40 an hour for long deadline evening-and-weekend freelance to $100 per hour for short-deadline stuff.