Washington State Unemployment Calculator

Washington unemployment insurance

How ESD figures your weekly benefit amount

ESD starts with the two quarters of your base year in which you earned the most. It adds the gross wages from those two quarters, divides by 2 and multiplies the result by 0.0385, which is 3.85 percent. If the answer falls between the minimum and the maximum, that is your weekly benefit amount, rounded down to the dollar. For new claims opened on or after July 5, 2026, the minimum is $383 and the maximum is $1,208 a week. In the default example, the two best quarters are $17,500 and $18,000; their average is $17,750, and 3.85 percent of that is $683.38, so the estimate is $683 a week.

You reach the $1,208 maximum once the average of your two best quarters passes about $31,377, or about $62,754 for the two quarters together. At the low end there is one more step. When 3.85 percent of your average is under $383, ESD compares $383 with your estimated weekly wage, which is the average of your two best quarters times 4, divided by 52, and pays the lesser of the two. That is because no one can receive a weekly benefit amount above their own average weekly wage. ESD's five worked examples show every branch:

Source: ESD, Estimate your benefit, examples of how ESD calculates a weekly benefit amount. The calculator matches ESD's own estimator code on 20,000 random wage pairs.

Do you qualify?

Washington's test is based on hours, not dollars: you need 680 hours of work in your base year. Your base year is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before the week you apply, so a claim filed in early October 2026 uses July 2025 through June 2026, and the calculator relabels the wage boxes whenever you change the date. If you did not work 680 hours in your base year, you may qualify under an alternate base year, which is the last four completed calendar quarters; you still need 680 hours in those quarters. When you enter fewer than 680 hours, the calculator shows what the alternate base year would pay. You also need to have lost your job through no fault of your own, be able and available to work and meet ESD's job search requirements, which ESD reviews after you apply and each week you claim.

How much you can collect in total

Your maximum benefit amount is the smaller of 26 times your weekly benefit amount or one-third of your total gross wages in the four quarters of your base year. Steady full-time workers usually get the full 26 weeks: in the default example that is 26 times $683, or $17,758. With uneven pay the one-third limit can bite. Someone with $9,000 in each of two quarters and nothing else would get the $383 minimum, but one-third of $18,000 is $6,000, which is about 15.7 weeks at the full amount. Your benefit year usually begins on the Sunday of the week you first apply and lasts 52 weeks, and state law requires a one-week waiting period before benefits are paid.

Source: ESD news release of June 10, 2026. The minimum is 20 percent and the maximum the greater of $496 or 63 percent of the state's average weekly wage, which rose to $1,919 in 2025. The calculator accepts dates from July 5, 2026 through July 3, 2027.

Working part time while you collect

If you work during a week you claim, ESD subtracts part of your gross earnings from your weekly benefit amount. The first $5 does not count; after that, 75 percent of the rest is deducted, with the deduction rounded up to the next dollar. ESD publishes this as its earnings deduction chart. In the default example, $200 of earnings means 75 percent of $195, or $146.25, rounded up to $147, so you would receive $536 for that week. When the deduction reaches your weekly benefit amount, nothing is paid for the week.

Keeping your claim going

Getting approved is only the start. To be paid, you file a claim for each week. For every week you claim, ESD expects you to complete 3 job search activities and keep a written log of them; you cannot count the exact same activity twice. ESD can ask for the log at any time, so keep it for at least 30 days after your benefit year ends or after you stop receiving benefits, whichever is later. If you live in Washington you also need to be signed up with a WorkSource employment center. A week of vacation, or any week you are not available for work, has to be reported on your weekly claim and is not paid. You also need to accept an offer of suitable work; if you turn one down, the employer can report it and ESD may deny your benefits.

Taxes on Washington unemployment benefits

Unemployment benefits are taxable income on your federal return, and ESD sends a Form 1099-G each January. The IRS does not require ESD to withhold tax, but you can choose to have it deduct 10 percent of your weekly benefits for income tax, which the last line of the result shows. See are unemployment benefits taxable and the unemployment benefits tax calculator for the federal side. If you received severance or a vacation 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. If you are off work for your own health condition or a new child rather than a layoff, the Washington paid family leave calculator covers that separate program. When you go back to work, the Washington salary calculator and the Seattle salary calculator show your take-home pay. Worked in another state? Compare the California and New York unemployment calculators.