Unemployment Insurance

Since its inception in 1935, the unemployment insurance (UI) program in the United States has operated as the primary safety net for those who involuntarily lose their jobs. Although the UI system's broad guidelines were established by federal law, UI essentially operates as a state-level program. Each state determines its own rules governing matters such as benefit levels, eligibility, and revenue, resulting in substantial variations between the states' policies.

The purpose of this online benefits calculator is twofold. First, the calculator demonstrates the great disparities in benefit generosity from one state to the next. Second, the calculator gives a general idea of the benefits a typical part-time or full-time, full-year worker might expect to receive should he or she become unemployed.

Weekly Benefit Amount (WBA) Calculator

In which state are you employed? Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming

Do you have a dependent spouse (Y/N)? Yes No

How many dependent children do you have (0-5)? 0 1 2 3 4 5

Please choose the hourly wage closest to yours: $5.15 $5.50 $6.00 $6.50 $7.00 $7.50 $8.00 $8.50 $9.00 $9.50 $10.00 $11.00 $12.00 $13.00 $15.00 $17.00 $20.00 $24.00 $25.00 $30.00

Please choose the weekly work schedule (hours worked per week) closest to yours: 24 hours/week 40 hours/week

Important note about the WBA Calculator
The online calculator is intended to be accurate as of August 2004. Because state law changes frequently, the online calculator will be updated periodically to reflect these changes.The online calculator assumes that the wage level and the hours per week you choose is for the past base year period of 52 weeks with no overtime. It also assumes that you have worked at this wage level during the entire base period (typically the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters). Actual UI benefits are calculated by each state using total earnings over a specific period of time, not according to hourly wage rates. The calculator also assumes that you are indeed eligible to receive benefits under your state's qualifying guidelines.

When used for the purpose of calculating potential benefits, keep in mind that these results are an approximation presented for illustration purposes only. They are not a guarantee of benefits. If you would like to know your exact benefit and eligibility status, contact your local UI administrator.

Download the entire dataset [149 kb zipped tab-delimited text file] used by this calculator.