AZUnemployment insurance worksheet
Arizona Unemployment Calculator: Up to $320/Week, 24 Weeks
In Arizona, unemployment pays up to $320 a week for up to 24 weeks; your weekly amount is your highest quarter divided by 25.
Checked against primary sources · updated See the sources
How Arizona works out your amount
Arizona 2026: divide the high quarter by 25, round to the nearest dollar with half-dollar ties up, and cap at $320. Check both monetary routes. The published July–September 2026 rate average is 4.9%, supporting 24 weeks through the end of this 2026 wage schedule. The one-third-wage balance is estimated before agency adjustments.
Weekly earnings reduction is not modeled here unless your state source gives a rule. Optional withholding is separate from the gross estimate.
The Arizona Department of Economic Security decides eligibility, base-period wages, payable weeks, reductions, withholding and the final award. Use the official record below to verify this scenario.
Arizona: A.R.S. 23-771, 23-779 and 23-780: high-quarter wages divided by 25, rounded to the nearest dollar with 50 cents rounding up, capped at $320. With the 2026 state minimum wage of $15.15, qualification is $5,908.50 in the high quarter plus total wages of 1.5 times it, or $7,987.50 in the high quarter plus $8,000 in total across two quarters. OEO's October 15 report completes July–September 2026 at 4.9%, below the 5% duration trigger: the 24-week ceiling is supported through the December 31, 2026 wage-window end. The one-third-wage balance is estimated to the cent; final agency precision is unverified. https://www.azleg.gov/ars/23/00779.htm (verified 2026-10-17)
Your high quarter divided by 25, rounded to the nearest dollar
Arizona's weekly benefit formula is the highest covered wage quarter divided by 25, capped at $320. Under A.R.S. 23-779, a fractional amount below the maximum rounds to the nearest dollar, with exact half-dollar ties upward.
A $6,000 high quarter gives $240. At $6,012.50, the formula gives $240.50, rounded to $241. One cent less gives $240. The $320 ceiling can be reached with $7,987.50 in the high quarter because $319.50 rounds upward; you do not need a full $8,000 high quarter.
Enter the four completed covered wage quarters from your UB-107 wage statement. Unknown quarters remain blank. Gross covered wages belong here; the state's employer tax limit is a separate rule used in the alternate monetary test.
The ordinary 2026 wage route needs $5,908.50 in the high quarter
A.R.S. 23-771 requires high-quarter wages of at least 390 times the Arizona statewide minimum wage in effect when you file. The Industrial Commission's official 2026 notice sets that wage at $15.15. Multiplying gives a $5,908.50 high-quarter requirement.
The same route also needs total base-period wages of at least 1.5 times the highest quarter. For a $5,908.50 high quarter, total wages must reach $8,862.75, including at least $2,954.25 outside it. That record produces a $236 weekly rate after rounding. Reducing either required component by one cent fails this route.
A local city's higher minimum wage is not substituted for the statewide section 23-363 wage in this statutory test. A positive high-quarter formula alone does not establish qualification.
The alternate route has a different wage distribution
The alternate route requires wages in at least two quarters, high-quarter wages sufficient for the maximum weekly rate, and total wages of at least the taxable wage limit. Current section 23-622 sets that limit at $8,000; DES identifies the maximum-rate high-quarter boundary as $7,987.50.
A record of $7,987.50 in one quarter and $12.50 in another reaches $8,000 total and can pass this route, even though it fails the ordinary 1.5-times ratio. Its weekly rate is $320. A single $8,000 quarter with three zeros fails the two-quarter requirement. A $7,987.49 high quarter does not reach the maximum weekly rate, so it fails the alternate boundary.
DES still decides whether the wages are covered and which base period applies. The regular period is the four completed quarters that precede the most recent one. This worksheet does not select special disability-related base periods or reuse wages from a prior claim.
The published third quarter of 2026 supports at most 24 weeks
A.R.S. 23-780 provides a 24-week ceiling when the latest published complete calendar quarter's average seasonally adjusted Arizona unemployment rate is below 5%, and 26 weeks at 5% or above. This is a quarter average; a single month's rate or an unadjusted rate is not the statutory measure.
The Office of Economic Opportunity's October 15, 2026 employment report gives September's seasonally adjusted rate as 4.9%, unchanged from August. The BLS July reading is also 4.9%. Together the three months average 4.9%, below the 5% trigger. The complete third quarter now supports the 24-week branch for the remainder of this worksheet's 2026 wage schedule.
The next calendar quarter cannot be complete before December ends. Claims outside the supported December 31, 2026 wage-window end need the agency's weekly award, balance and duration. October 2025 remains missing in the monthly series; the calculator does not turn that missing month into zero or an invented quarter average.
The one-third wage limit can reduce the funded duration
The ordinary mathematical balance is limited by both the number of weekly benefits and one-third of total base-period earnings. With $6,000 and $3,000 quarters, the $240 weekly rate could total $5,760 over 24 weeks, but the wage ceiling limits the account to $3,000. Twelve full weeks use $2,880; a thirteenth modeled week reaches that ceiling.
The alternate minimum example above has a $320 weekly rate but a mathematical account ceiling of $2,666.66. It is not funded for 24 full-rate payments. Balance figures are estimates to cents before agency adjustments; final account rounding could not be verified from the reviewed statute.
This full-unemployment worksheet excludes weekly earnings above the $160 disregard, pension and severance issues, the waiting week, eight-times prior-claim work requirements, Shared Work and extensions. A passed wage test is separate from separation, availability and ongoing eligibility. Optional withholding is shown separately and is not a tax calculation.
Current primary sources
- A.R.S. 23-779: formula, weekly maximum and exact rounding.
- A.R.S. 23-771 and 23-622: monetary routes and taxable wage limit.
- A.R.S. 23-780: quarter-rate duration and one-third account ceiling.
- Industrial Commission's 2026 minimum wage notice: $15.15 statewide wage.
- DES monetary eligibility guidance: the $236–$320 range and alternate wage boundaries.
- BLS seasonally adjusted Arizona monthly series and OEO's October 15, 2026 employment report: July–September rate evidence for the 24-week ceiling.
Duration sources rechecked October 17, 2026; monetary rules reviewed October 1, 2026. Check your DES determination and payment guidance before budgeting from this estimate.
Worked in a nearby state too?
Each state pays from the wages reported to it, so a claim follows where the covered work was done. If some of your base-period wages were earned in one of these states, open its worksheet, or compare every state on the unemployment benefits calculator.
Supported claim periods and annual handoff
The October 15 OEO release completes the new quarter, so this worksheet no longer requires a separate duration input at the October 16 source-review checkpoint. It uses the supported 24-week ceiling while the 2026 wage schedule applies; the wage-limited balance can still run out sooner.
The Arizona wage-estimate calendar supports 2026-01-01 to 2026-12-31. Source dates describe when evidence was checked; they do not create a legal expiration. A blank claim date uses the current local date. After a finite schedule ends, the form shows an explicit official-award worksheet. Enter the weekly award, maximum account and authorized weeks from the determination. An unverified successor rate is never copied from the previous annual table.
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