Methodology & Data Sources

Every number on this site derives from a single federal source: U.S. Department of Labor, Significant Provisions of State UI Laws (January 2026), effective January 1, 2026, published by the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Unemployment Insurance. Pages are regenerated from that dataset; nothing is hand-edited.

What the calculators do — and don't

The weekly-benefit estimator applies your state's published formula (e.g., "1/26 of high-quarter wages") to the earnings you enter, then clamps the result between the state's published minimum and maximum. Where a state uses statutory tables or schedules that can't be computed from simple inputs (Alaska, Virginia, West Virginia, North Dakota), we show the state's range instead of pretending to a precision we don't have. Where an estimate requires an assumption (e.g., deriving an average weekly wage from annual earnings), the assumption is disclosed on the page.

The partial-benefit calculator applies the state's earnings disregard to a week of part-time work. States with rules that don't reduce to a formula are labeled as such.

What these estimates are not

They are not eligibility determinations. Monetary eligibility is only half of a claim — you must also be separated through no fault of your own and be able, available, and searching for work, all of which the state agency assesses. Dependents' allowances, alternate base periods, waiting weeks, and pension or severance offsets can change your actual amount. File with your state via unemployment.gov.

Update cadence

The DOL publishes this dataset biannually (January and July editions). We track new editions and republish when the data changes; the effective date shown on every page is the dataset's, not ours.