Four Tips for Estimating Freelance Income Correctly

When you are calculating household income, a “freelancer” presents special challenges. Freelancers are self-employed, and their income often can be sporadic. Paragraph 5-5 of the HUD Occupancy Handbook 4350.3 considers such income to be “irregular” and provides some examples, such as a roofer who works seasonally and a typist who gets jobs through a temp agency.

The Handbook doesn't state specifically how to estimate a freelancer's anticipated income, but gives suggested approaches: