So, there is a tradeoff in rate vs. several other factors. If you charge higher rates, you are more likely going to be working for financial or other large cor

So, there is a tradeoff in rate vs. several other factors. If you charge higher rates, you are more likely going to be working for financial or other large corporate firms. Maybe that's ok with you, but if you don't prefer that kind of customer, it's a thing to keep in mind. Another factor is how much of the year you expect to be working. If you have a customer who's going to want 30+ hours a week for months, it would make sense not to charge as much as a customer who needs 4 hours work for an emergency bugfix. That all said, hundreds of dollars per hour is something I have seen in database administrator contracting, especially on Oracle databases (where the customers tend to be large corporations).