Unemployment Benefits by State

Unemployment benefits by state

How states set your weekly benefit

Unemployment insurance is run by each state, so the weekly amount, the number of weeks and the wages you need to qualify depend on the state where you worked. The U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) publishes a summary of every state's rules. The edition used on this page covers the laws and regulations in effect on July 1, 2026, and the DOL notes that it is a summary, not an official interpretation, so your state agency has the final word.

States start from your base period, a look-back year of wages. Almost all states use the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you file. If you file in October 2026, that is usually July 2025 through June 2026. When those wages are not enough, many states let you use an alternative base period made of the last four completed quarters.

Then each state applies its own formula. Many divide the wages from your highest-paid quarter by a set number: Florida and Idaho use 1/26, Arizona, Nevada and Texas 1/25, and Hawaii 1/21. Wisconsin and Wyoming take 4% of that quarter. Others average your 2 best quarters, look at your whole base period (Kentucky pays 1.1923% of base-period wages and Oregon 1.25%) or start from your average weekly wage: New Jersey pays 60% of it and Massachusetts 50%. Whatever the formula gives, the state minimum and maximum apply.

How the unemployment benefits calculator works

Choose your state and enter the gross wages you were paid in each quarter of your base period, oldest first. The calculator applies that state's formula as the DOL summary describes it, rounds the way the DOL comparison of state laws says the state rounds, and checks the minimum and maximum. It then works out the most you can collect on the claim, using the state's limit on total benefits, and what a week of part-time work would pay under the state's rule for earnings that are not deducted. New Jersey and Ohio base the benefit on your average weekly wage, so for them you also enter the weeks you worked.

The default example is a Texas worker paid $11,000, $12,000, $12,500 and $13,000 in the four quarters. Texas pays 1/25 of the highest quarter, so $13,000 gives $520 a week. The total is capped at 27% of base-period wages or 26 weekly payments, whichever is less: 27% of $48,500 is $13,095. In a week with $200 of part-time pay, Texas does not deduct the greater of $5 or a quarter of the weekly benefit ($130), so the benefit drops by $70 to $450. With the same wages, the calculator gives $370 in Wisconsin, $450 in California and $325 in Tennessee, the state maximums, and $490 in Massachusetts, where the most you can collect is 26 or 30 weekly payments, depending on unemployment in the state's metropolitan areas.

For the 11 states that have their own calculator on this site (California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Washington, Wisconsin), this page uses the same rules, including each state's earnings test (for Washington it assumes the 680 hours of work the state requires), so both pages give the same answer for the same wages. For the other states it assumes you meet the state's earnings test. Alaska and New Hampshire apply a range of percentages of annual wages (0.9% to 2.2% and 1% to 1.1%), Virginia and West Virginia read the amount from tables in state law, and Louisiana adjusts its formula with benefit multipliers that can change from year to year, so for these five states the calculator shows only the minimum and maximum. Montana's law gives two measures, 1% of base-period wages or 1.9% of your 2 highest quarters, without saying which applies, so both are shown.

Highest and lowest weekly maximums in 2026

• Highest: Washington $1,208, Massachusetts $1,105 plus dependents' allowances with no cap, New Jersey $905, Oregon $902, New York $869 and Hawaii $868. Minnesota pays up to $948 and Colorado up to $884 when the base-period formula applies. With dependents, Maine pays up to $1,135 and Rhode Island up to $971.
• Lowest: Mississippi $235, Alabama and Florida $275, Louisiana $282, Arizona and Missouri $320 and Tennessee $325.
• Minimums run from $5 a week in Hawaii and $15 in North Carolina to $236 in Arizona and $383 in Washington.

How many weeks unemployment lasts

Most states pay up to 26 weeks, and in Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, New Hampshire, New York and West Virginia everyone who qualifies gets the same 26 weeks. Elsewhere the number of weeks depends on your base-period wages, and in several states also on the state unemployment rate. Some states pay fewer than 26 weeks at most: Arkansas and Florida 12, Alabama 14, Iowa, Kansas and Oklahoma 16, Louisiana, Missouri, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee 20, and Arizona, Kentucky and Montana 24. Georgia caps the total at 14 weekly payments or 1/4 of base-period wages, whichever is less. Massachusetts can pay up to 30. These counts leave out extra weeks some states pay in special cases, such as periods of high unemployment.

Unemployment benefits by state: 2026 table

As of October 4, 2026, from the DOL summary of state laws in effect July 1, 2026. Where a range is shown with dependents, the higher figure includes the most a state adds for dependents. Massachusetts resets its maximum on the first Sunday of October each year, so the $1,105 shown applies to claims whose benefit year began before October 4, 2026. Scroll the table sideways on a phone.

Weekly figures are before tax. Extended or emergency weeks are not included.

Working part time while on unemployment

Every state lets you report a week of part-time work and still get a reduced benefit. Each one sets an amount of pay it does not deduct, and the rest of your pay comes off the weekly benefit. The rules come in a few forms: a flat dollar amount, such as $50 in Georgia, $100 in Indiana and Oklahoma, or $150 in Hawaii; a share of your weekly benefit, such as 1/2 in Illinois and 1/3 in Massachusetts; or a share of what you earn, such as 1/3 of wages in Connecticut and Nevada. Minnesota reduces the benefit by 50 cents for every $1 you earn, and New York counts hours worked rather than dollars. Enter your pay for the week in the calculator to see the reduced amount.

Dependents' allowances

A few states add money for dependents. Connecticut adds $15 per dependent for up to 5, Maryland $8 for up to 5, Michigan $19.33 for up to 5 and Maine $25 per dependent, and Massachusetts adds $25 per dependent with no cap. Alaska, Illinois, Iowa, New Jersey, New Mexico, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Rhode Island also pay allowances, which is why their ranges in the table show a higher figure with dependents. The calculator shows the benefit before any dependents' allowance.

Taxes on unemployment benefits

The IRS says you generally must include all unemployment compensation you receive in your income, and you can choose to have federal income tax withheld from it with Form W-4V. Our guide to how unemployment benefits are taxed explains the withholding choice, and the unemployment tax calculator estimates the federal tax on a year of benefits. A few states also take an employee unemployment tax out of paychecks while you work, covered in states where employees pay SUI.