Showdown: Full-Time vs. Freelance Engineering – 2026 Income and Tax Data

In 2026, the average senior freelance engineer in the US reported $287k in gross billings, but after self-employment tax and health insurance, took home $162k—just $11k more than their full-time counterpart who worked 420 fewer hours per year. That’s the core tension we’re dissecting today with IRS SOI data, Stack Overflow 2026 survey results, and benchmarked tax simulations. 📡 Hacker News Top Stories Right Now Ghostty is leaving GitHub (1638 points) ChatGPT serves ads. Here's the full attribut