Indiana Unemployment Calculator

Indiana unemployment insurance

How Indiana figures your weekly benefit amount

Indiana bases your weekly benefit amount on all of the wages in your base period, not just your best quarter. DWD's claimant handbook gives the formula: divide your total base period wages by 52 to get an average weekly wage, multiply by 0.47, and round down to the whole dollar. The maximum weekly benefit amount is $390, a figure set by Indiana law. DWD's own example uses $30,000 of base period wages: $30,000 divided by 52 is $576.92, and 47% of that is $271. The default example on this page uses the same total, spread over four quarters.

You reach the $390 maximum once your base period wages are about $43,149. At the other end, the smallest base period that can qualify, $4,200, gives $37 a week.

Our calculation with the DWD claimant handbook formula (wages / 52 x 0.47, rounded down, $390 maximum; maximum benefit amount 26 times the weekly amount).

Do your wages qualify?

Your base period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before the week you file. The last completed quarter, called the lag quarter, does not count. To qualify, your base period wages must total at least $4,200, at least $2,500 of them must fall in the last six months of the base period, and the total must be at least 1.5 times your highest quarter. With the default wages the base period is July 2025 to June 2026, the total is $30,000, the last two quarters hold $15,500 and the highest quarter is $7,800, so all three tests pass.

Our table from the DWD base period definition. DWD's example: claims filed between January 5 and April 4, 2020 used the base period October 1, 2018 to September 30, 2019. Claim weeks run Sunday to Saturday and the example's dates follow whole weeks, so a claim filed in the first days of a quarter may count from the week that began in the previous quarter.

Wages alone are not enough. DWD also looks at why you are unemployed, since benefits are for people out of work through no fault of their own, and whether you are able, available and actively looking for full-time work. A claims investigator decides cases where you quit or were fired.

How long benefits last

You can draw regular benefits for up to 26 weeks or until you reach your maximum benefit amount, which is 26 times your weekly benefit amount: $7,046 in the default example. Your claim is good for a benefit year of 52 weeks from the week you filed. Indiana law requires one waiting week: you file a voucher for your first week but are not paid for it. DWD sends a monetary determination to your Uplink inbox within 10 days of filing that shows your weekly and maximum amounts, and you should receive your first payment within 3 weeks if there are no issues on your claim. If the wages on that determination look wrong, you can appeal.

Working part time: the partial benefit rule

You may qualify for partial benefits if your hours are cut below full time or you take a part-time job that pays less than your weekly benefit amount. For weeks ending on or after July 8, 2023, DWD deducts every dollar you earn above $100 in a week. The handbook's examples: with a $200 weekly benefit amount, earning $50 leaves the payment at $200, and earning $130 reduces it by $30 to $170. With the default $271 amount, $250 of pay in a week leaves $121.00. You cannot receive benefits while working full time, even on commission, and severance pay is deducted from your benefits.

Report your wages on the voucher for the week you did the work, even if you are paid later. Your benefits can also be reduced by one third of your weekly benefit amount for each day you are not available for work.

Keeping your claim active

File a claim voucher every week. Weeks run from Sunday to Saturday, and the voucher for the previous week must be completed by 8:59 p.m. Eastern time on Saturday; late vouchers are not accepted. Each week you must also complete at least two work search activities, such as job applications, interviews or WorkOne workshops, keep a log of them for six months, and after your fourth week of benefits visit your local WorkOne office for a review of your work search records.

Taxes on Indiana unemployment

Unemployment benefits are taxable, and DWD sends a Form 1099-G each January. When you file your initial claim you can choose to have 10% withheld for federal income tax and 4% for state income tax, 14% in total, and you cannot stop the withholding during that claim. On the default $271 amount that leaves $233.06 a week. See are unemployment benefits taxable and the unemployment benefits tax calculator for the federal side, and Indiana county income tax for local tax. If your job ended with a payout, the severance pay tax calculator and the PTO payout calculator show what those checks net, and final paycheck laws by state covers when your last check is due. When you go back to work, the Indiana salary calculator and the Indianapolis salary calculator show your take-home pay. Worked across a state line? Compare the Illinois and Wisconsin unemployment calculators.