🧭Unemployment Calculator 2026 — Weekly Benefit by State

What it is

An estimator for the weekly unemployment benefit a state would compute from your past wages. It applies the chosen state’s own statutory formula rather than a national average, and shows the arithmetic step by step.

How it works

Each state pack carries the method its law uses — a fraction of the highest-earning base-period quarter, a percentage of the two highest quarters or of total base-period wages, or a published benefit table transcribed row by row. The engine applies that method, adds any dependents allowance, then clamps the result to the state minimum and maximum and rounds the way the statute directs.

Getting the most from it

1. Choose your state so its verified formula, caps, and duration load.
2. Enter gross wages for each of the four base-period quarters — the base-period tool shows which quarters those are.
3. Add dependents if the state has an allowance; the field appears only where one exists.
4. Open the step-by-step math to see which rule produced the number and where a cap applied.

Reading your result

The result is a monetary estimate, not an eligibility decision — separation reasons, work-search requirements, and wage reporting all sit outside it. Compare the figure against the state minimum and maximum shown beside it: hitting the cap means extra earnings would not raise the benefit.

What it can't tell you

It cannot see the wages employers actually reported, which is what the agency uses. It does not decide eligibility, apply waiting weeks, or model federal extensions. Where a state’s rule is not expressible as a formula, the pack carries the agency’s wording instead and the engine declines to compute rather than approximate.