2025 Maximum Weekly Unemployment Insurance Benefits and Weeks By State

Listed in the table below are the latest maximum weekly unemployment insurance benefit/compensation amounts by state. The Unemployment compensation (UC) program is designed to provide benefits to most individuals out of work or in between jobs, through no fault of their own.

Note, the table contains the the maximum regular weekly state unemployment insurance compensation (benefit), including adjustments for dependents where applicable.

In most states the number of dependents you have, prior employment duration (base period) and your prior average weekly wage will impact the unemployment benefits you are eligible to receive. The qualification criteria, including minimum and maximum amounts are set by law.

Please check your respective states unemployment website referenced in the table below for state-specific UI details, benefit eligibility and process to claim/file for benefits.

State unemployment benefit information is constantly changing so if you notice any discrepancies or outdated amounts please leave a comment and I will update the table as appropriate.

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Maximum Unemployment Benefits By State

State	Max. Weekly Benefit Amount	Additional State Unemployment Information	Max Weeks*
Alabama	$275	AL Unemployment Information	26
Alaska	$370 (Individual) up to $442 (w/dependents)	AK Unemployment Insurance State Website	26
Arizona	$320	AZ Department of Economic Security	24
Arkansas	$451	Arkansas Division of Workforce Services	16
California	$450	CA EDD Unemployment	26
Colorado	$809	CO Department of Labor and Employment	26
Connecticut	$721	CT Department of Labor	26
Delaware	$450	DE Division of Unemployment Insurance	26
District of Columbia	$444	DC Dept. of Employment Services	26
Florida	$275	FL Dept. of Economic Opportunity Information	12
Georgia	$365	GA Department of Labor Information	14 to 26
Hawaii	$796	HI Unemployment Insurance State Website	26
Idaho	$568	ID Dept. of Labor	26
Illinois	$578 (Individual) up to $787 (w/dependents)	$542 (Individual) up to $742 (w/dependents)	26
Indiana	$390	IN Department of Workforce Development	26
Iowa	$602 (Individual) up to $739 (w/dependents)	IA Workforce Development	26
Kansas	$612	KS Department of Labor	16
Kentucky	$665	KY Career Center	26
Louisiana	$275	LA Workforce Commission	26
Maine	$595 (plus $25 per dependent)	ME Department of Labor	26
Maryland	$430 (includes $8 p/dependent allowance)	MD Department of Labor - Unemployment Division	26
Massachusetts	$1033 (+$25 p/dependent)	MA Department of Unemployment Assistance	30
Michigan	$362	MI UIA	20
Minnesota	$914	MN Department of Employment and Economic Development	26
Mississippi	$235	MS Department of Employment Security	26
Missouri	$320	MO Department of Labor and Industrial Relations	13
Montana	$552	MT Department of Labor and Industry	28
Nebraska	$546	NE Department of Labor	26
Nevada	$469	NV Dept. of Employment, Training and Rehab	26
New Hampshire	$427	NH Department of Employment Security	26
New Jersey	$875	NJ Dept. of Labor and Workforce Development Information	26
New Mexico	$511	NM Department of Workforce Solutions	26
New York	$504	NY Dept. of Labor	26
North Carolina	$350	NC Division of Employment Security	12
North Dakota	$748	ND Job Service	26
Ohio	$561 (no deps) to $757 (2+ deps)	OH Dept. of Job and Family Services	26
Oklahoma	$539	OK UI Home Page	26
Oregon	$836	OR Employment Department	26
Pennsylvania	$605 + $8 max dependent allowance	PA Department of Labor & Industry	26
Puerto Rico	$240	PR Department of Labor & HR	26
Rhode Island	$723	RI Dept. of Labor and Training	26
South Carolina	$326	SC Dept. of Employment & Workforce	20
South Dakota	$532	SD Department of Labor & Regulation	26
Tennessee	$325	TN Dept. of Labor and Workforce Development	26
Texas	$591	TX Workforce Commission	26
Utah	$777	UT Dept. of Workforce Services	26
Vermont	$729	VT Dept. of Labor	26
Virginia	$378	VA Employment Commission	12 to 26
Washington	$1079	WA Employment Security Department	26
West Virginia	$662	Workforce WV	26
Wisconsin	$370	WI Dept. of Workforce Development	26
Wyoming	$595	WY Unemployment Insurance Home Page	26

Maximum Weekly Unemployment Insurance Benefit Amounts (WBA) by State

The maximum weekly benefit amounts can change each year based on state laws and average weekly wage bases. Similarly, the maximum weeks of coverage are subject to prevailing state unemployment rates, so can fluctuate widely. Check the included state hyperlinks in the table to get the latest qualification and benefit information.

What’s the highest amount you can get from unemployment?

The Federal-State UC program is a partnership based upon federal law, but administered by state employees under state laws. Thus each state designs its own UC program within the guidelines of the federal requirements, which includes setting the benefit amount along with eligibility and disqualification provisions.

So while the highest amount you can get per week in each state is listed in the table above, the actual weekly benefit amount (WBA) will generally be based on your base period income, dependents and other factors per your state unemployment agency’s guidelines. See the table above for pertinent links to more information.

Steps to Filing and Getting Your Unemployment Claim Processed Quickly

• Filing online via your state’s unemployment website (versus calling or by mail) as soon as possible after losing your job or pay cut is the fastest way to submit an unemployment claim. Particularly in today’s world where call centers are operating at reduced capacity. If you have issues with your claim you will have to likely contact your local State Unemployment Insurance agency. Just be prepared for this to take time.

• Have details of your former jobs/employers (up to 24 months of history), personal (SSN, address) and banking information ready when filing the claim or talking to an agent at your state UI office. Make sure to give complete and correct information to minimize delays with your claim processing. It generally takes two to four weeks after you file your claim to receive your first first benefit check.

• You can get paid by check, debit card or direct deposit. To get your payments in the fastest way go with direct deposit and ensure you have your correct and up to date bank routing and account numbers documented.

• Certify on time (weekly or bi-weekly) to claim your benefits in order to get your unemployment check paid on schedule. One of the main reason people see disruptions is failing to file on time and with the required information. Further, with the new federal programs in place, the unemployment certification requirements could be more onerous so make sure you take time to review your weekly or bi-weekly certification requirements. If you miss several weeks of certification, you may have to file a new claim.

Your state unemployment website will generally allow you to calculate your estimated state unemployment benefits prior to or when submitting a claim. You will need to have your income/wages earned during the four prior calendar quarters (base year period) and also number of hours worked in some instances for each of these quarters.

Since the wages you earn can vary significantly from quarter to quarter, you may want to consider these differences in deciding when to file your claim. Refer to your local state’s website for specifics on calculations and eligibility.

The final amount of your benefit is determined after the State UI division process your application and validates income and employment duration with your employer(s).

Will I Have to Pay Taxes on My Unemployment Benefits

Unemployment insurance is federally taxable income and must be reported on your IRS federal income tax return.

Your local state unemployment agency will send you form 1099-G to file with your tax return (see due dates). This form is sent in late January and outlines the amount of benefits paid to you during the previous year.

You can also choose to withhold income tax (like you do on a paycheck) during the year when receiving benefits with 10 percent being the maximum generally allowed.

State taxes on unemployment vary by state and many states do not tax unemployment benefits, either by law or because they don’t have a state income tax (e.g. Florida).

But many of these states also have the lowest levels of unemployment benefits. See more in this detailed article on unemployment benefit taxes.

Note that up to $10,200 of unemployment benefits under the expired federally funded enhanced extended benefits (PUA, PEUC and $300 FPUC) were deemed as non-taxable.

Can I Get Partial Unemployment Benefits

There will situations when workers keep their job, but face a significant drop in income as their hours worked or paid are reduced. In situations like this they may qualify for partial unemployment benefits.

You will have to check your state unemployment website for details on qualifying for partial unemployment as rules vary. How much you get in terms of unemployment benefits will depend on your earnings for the relevant week you certify.

For example in New York uses a partial unemployment system based on hours worked. Generally you can work up to 7 days per week without losing full unemployment benefits for that week, if you work 30 hours or fewer and earn $504 or less in gross pay excluding earnings from self-employment.

With this change, your benefits will not be reduced for each day you engage in part-time work. Instead, benefits will be reduced in increments based on your total hours of work for the week.

States like PA and CA, offer Partial Unemployment Benefit Credits to offset the impacts of reduced benefits from part time work, but in many higher income states this won’t make much of an impact. 

Claiming Benefits Across Multiple States

If you worked and earned wages in multiple states you may be able to claim benefits from all these states relative to the income you earned.

Generally you should first exhaust benefits from the state where you had the highest income and/or lived for the longest duration in the base year of figuring your claim. After which you can submit claims from the other states up to the maximum weekly benefit.

Retroactive Benefit Payments

You will be able to claim retroactive payments for missed payment weeks during eligible periods of coverage. This was also the case for (now expired) pandemic benefits under the PUA, PEUC, $300 FPUC and $100 MEUC programs.

Each state has different processes for claiming retroactive benefits and you will need to provide evidence for eligibility and re-certify for missed weeks. Just be prepared to wait a few weeks for payments given the manual nature in many states for verifying back payments and completing relevant identify checks.

Unemployment Overpayment Waivers

For a variety of reasons, either due to the claimant filing or state unemployment agency’s processing issues, unemployment benefits can be overpaid.

In this situation claimants may get a letter weeks or months after receiving benefits notifying them that they need to repay overpaid unemployment benefits.

This caused many state agencies to make incorrect payments and then spend months and years afterwards chasing up these payments or issuing waivers to those who would suffer financial hardship from making repayments for overpaid claims (excluding fraudulent claims).

The good news is that in most cases, assuming you were deemed eligible for the unemployment benefit, and you didn’t provide false or incorrect information, state agencies will allow you to apply for a waiver to avoid repaying past unemployment benefit overpayments. You will need to provide certain documentation and evidence of hardship if you were forced to repay funds.