Your locum radiology contract says $220 an hour. Your actual take-home, once you subtract taxes, travel days, and unpaid credentialing time, might be closer to $140. This guide walks through the math that separates the number on the contract from the number that hits your bank account.
- Locum radiology hourly rate on paper is never the number you bank -- subtract SE tax, travel, and downtime first.
- A $220/hour day rate can net $130-$160/hour once unpaid travel and credentialing gaps are counted.
- Count every hour you're committed, not just hours you're reading studies, to get a true hourly rate.
- 1099 contractors carry benefits costs W-2 radiologists don't -- build that into the comparison before accepting an assignment.
Why this matters
Most radiologists compare locum offers by day rate alone. Two contracts paying $2,000 a day look identical until you factor in that one requires two unpaid travel days per week and the other doesn't.
The true hourly rate calculation exposes which contracts actually pay better and which ones just look better on the cover sheet. It's the same math RadBoard's job platform users apply when comparing locum listings pulled from its aggregated 5,000+ postings across 20 sources -- day rate alone tells you almost nothing about what the assignment nets in 2026.
What you'll need
- Your gross day rate or hourly rate from the contract
- Total scheduled hours per shift, including sign-out and overlap time
- Travel days per pay period (departure and return, not just work days)
- Your marginal tax bracket and self-employment tax rate (15.3% on net earnings up to the Social Security wage base in 2026)
- Any unreimbursed costs: flights, lodging, rental car, licensing, malpractice tail
- A calculator or spreadsheet -- this isn't mental math
The steps
1. Pull your gross contract numbers
Start with the base day rate and multiply by shifts per pay period. If the contract pays $2,200 per 10-hour shift, four shifts a week gets you $8,800 gross weekly before anything comes out.
Common mistake: using the recruiter's advertised "up to" rate instead of the guaranteed rate in the signed contract. Only the signed number counts.
2. Subtract self-employment tax
As a 1099 contractor, you owe both halves of Social Security and Medicare -- 15.3% combined in 2026, versus the 7.65% a W-2 employer would cover. On $8,800 gross weekly, that's roughly $1,346 gone before federal or state income tax touches it.
Common mistake: forgetting quarterly estimated payments are due four times a year, not once -- underpayment penalties eat into the margin you thought you had.
3. Count every hour, not just reading hours
A $2,200 day rate for a 10-hour shift looks like $220/hour. But if the assignment requires a half-day of unpaid travel on each end of a four-day block, you've worked 44 hours to earn 40 hours of pay. That drops the effective rate to roughly $200/hour before any deductions.
Common mistake: radiologists calculate hourly rate off scheduled shift hours only, ignoring travel, licensing paperwork, and credentialing calls that eat unpaid time.
4. Subtract unreimbursed travel and lodging
If the facility doesn't cover flights or a rental car, deduct those from gross pay before dividing by hours. A $400 round-trip flight and $600 in weekly lodging on an $8,800 gross week takes another $1,000 off the top.
5. Add in malpractice tail and licensing costs
Some locum contracts include occurrence-based malpractice with no tail exposure; others leave you covering a tail policy when the assignment ends. Check the radiology jobs with malpractice tail coverage included listings for language on this before you sign anything -- tail costs can run into five figures and should be amortized across the contract length, not ignored.
6. Factor in the benefits gap
W-2 radiology jobs typically include health insurance, retirement match, and paid CME. As a 1099 locum, you're funding all of that yourself. If a comparable W-2 role includes a $15,000 annual benefits package, divide that by your annual locum hours and subtract it from your effective hourly rate for an apples-to-apples comparison.
7. Calculate the final effective hourly rate
Take gross pay, subtract SE tax, unreimbursed expenses, and the annualized benefits gap, then divide by total hours committed -- including travel and admin time, not just reading hours. On the example above, an $8,800 gross week can net closer to $5,800 once every deduction lands, worked across 44 real hours. That's roughly $132/hour true rate against a $220/hour sticker rate.
Common mistake: running this calculation once at signing and never again -- rates and travel burden change assignment to assignment, so recalculate every contract.
Compare locum listings by true rate
Search 5,000+ radiology jobs from 20 sources and filter by contract type.
Troubleshooting
Problem: your effective rate keeps coming in lower than expected. Check whether you're counting travel days as unpaid hours worked -- most radiologists undercount this by 4-8 hours per assignment.
Problem: quarterly tax payments are bigger than anticipated. Set aside 25-30% of gross 1099 income for combined federal, state, and self-employment tax rather than waiting until April.
Problem: you can't tell if a contract's malpractice coverage leaves you exposed. Ask specifically whether coverage is occurrence-based or claims-made -- claims-made policies need a tail, and that cost belongs in your hourly math.
Problem: comparing a locum contract to a W-2 offer feels like comparing two different currencies. Convert both to true hourly rate using the same method: net pay after taxes and unreimbursed costs, divided by total hours committed including travel.
Problem: credentialing delays are eating into paid weeks. Some facilities take 30-60 days to credential a new locum radiologist. Unpaid credentialing time should be amortized across the contract's paid weeks when you calculate the true rate.
Tools and resources
- Locum tenens diagnostic radiology jobs for general radiologists -- current listings to benchmark day rates against
- How to negotiate a higher radiologist salary offer -- tactics for pushing day rate before you sign
- IRS Publication 505 for 2026 quarterly estimated tax worksheets
- A spreadsheet template tracking gross pay, hours committed, and deductions per assignment -- rebuild it for every contract, not just once a year
What to do next
Run this calculation on your last three locum contracts before you accept the next one. If your true hourly rate has been sliding downward assignment over assignment, the day rate isn't the problem -- your travel burden or unreimbursed costs probably are.
FAQ
What is a good locum radiology hourly rate in 2026?
A competitive locum radiology hourly rate in 2026 runs $150-$250 gross depending on subspecialty and call burden, but the true rate after taxes and unreimbursed travel typically lands 30-40% lower. Always calculate net rate before comparing offers.
How do you calculate true hourly rate for locum work?
Subtract self-employment tax, unreimbursed travel and lodging, and the annualized benefits gap from gross pay, then divide by total hours committed including travel and credentialing time. This gives a net figure comparable across contracts.
Is locum radiology pay better than a W-2 position?
Locum day rates often look higher than W-2 salaries per hour, but once you subtract self-funded benefits, self-employment tax, and unpaid travel, the gap narrows significantly. Run both through the same true-rate formula before deciding.
Do locum radiologists pay more in taxes than employed radiologists?
Yes -- 1099 locum radiologists owe the full 15.3% self-employment tax in 2026, while W-2 employers cover half that burden for employed radiologists. This is one of the largest hidden deductions in a locum hourly rate calculation.
Should unpaid travel days count toward hourly rate calculations?
Yes -- any day you're required to travel to or from an assignment should count as committed hours even if unpaid. Leaving travel time out of the calculation inflates the apparent hourly rate.
How much should I set aside for taxes on locum radiology income?
Most 1099 radiologists set aside 25-30% of gross income for combined federal, state, and self-employment tax in 2026, paid quarterly rather than annually. Underpaying quarterly estimates triggers IRS penalties.
Does malpractice tail coverage affect my true hourly rate?
Yes -- if your contract requires a claims-made policy without built-in tail coverage, the cost of purchasing tail insurance should be amortized across your contract hours. Occurrence-based coverage avoids this cost entirely.
How often should I recalculate my locum hourly rate?
Recalculate for every new assignment, since travel burden, tax bracket, and unreimbursed costs shift contract to contract. A rate that worked in one location can net far less in another with heavier travel requirements.
One last thing
The contract that pays the highest day rate is rarely the one with the highest true hourly rate once travel and tax are factored in -- run the math before you sign, not after your first paycheck.