ARUnemployment insurance worksheet
Arkansas Unemployment Calculator: Up to $451/Week, 12 Weeks
In Arkansas, unemployment pays up to $451 a week for up to 12 weeks; your weekly amount is the average of all four quarters divided by 26.
Checked against primary sources · updated See the sources
How Arkansas works out your amount
Arkansas: all four quarters contribute to the average-wage formula. The $81 minimum does not waive the two-quarter and 35-times wage tests. Current initial claims use the 12-week balance rule.
Weekly earnings reduction is not modeled here unless your state source gives a rule. Optional withholding is separate from the gross estimate.
The Arkansas Division of Workforce Services decides eligibility, base-period wages, payable weeks, reductions, withholding and the final award. Use the official record below to verify this scenario.
Arkansas: Current DWS handbook and Acts 412/196: average of all four quarters divided by 26, $81–$451 range, two paid quarters and 35-times weekly wage test. §11-10-504(b) rounds the balance upward to a weekly multiple; 2026 initial claims use 12 weeks. Verified through October 1, 2026. https://dws.arkansas.gov/wp-content/uploads/Employer_Handbook_20220811.pdf (verified 2026-10-01)
Use the average of all four wage quarters
For the current Arkansas formula, add the four covered base-period quarters, divide by four, then divide by 26. Equivalently, divide total base-period wages by 104. Round the weekly result down to a whole dollar and apply the $81 minimum and $451 maximum. Monetary qualification is checked separately below.
Act 412 of 2015 changed the calculation from a highest-quarter method to the average of all four quarters. The current agency employer handbook and federal state comparison use that average-wage approach. Using just the largest quarter can substantially overstate an estimate for seasonal or uneven earnings.
For example, $12,000, $4,000, $4,000 and zero total $20,000. Dividing by 104 gives a $192 weekly estimate. Four equal $5,000 quarters produce the same $192 because the total is unchanged. A $12,000-only highest-quarter calculation would incorrectly reach the $451 cap for this example.
The minimum payment still requires qualifying wages
You must have covered wages in at least two quarters, and total base-period wages must reach 35 times the calculated weekly amount. At the $81 minimum, that means at least $2,835 in total wages. The calculator reports zero when complete wage inputs fail that monetary test; a blank quarter remains unknown.
Two quarters of $1,500 and $1,335, with confirmed zeroes in the other quarters, pass the $2,835 boundary. Reducing the second quarter to $1,334.99 fails it. Earning the whole $2,835 in one quarter also fails the separate two-quarter requirement.
Use the base period accepted by the Division of Workforce Services. Its standard period takes the four completed calendar quarters that precede the most recent one; an alternate can use the latest four completed quarters when the standard period does not qualify. The worksheet does not select a period or decide whether an employer's payments count as covered wages.
Why a current qualifying initial claim models 12 weeks
Act 196 reduced the maximum for initial claims filed on or after January 1, 2024 to 12 weekly amounts, subject to a one-third-of-wages comparison. Arkansas Code §11-10-504(b) then rounds a resulting balance upward to the next whole weekly-benefit multiple.
That last step matters at the minimum wage boundary. With $2,835 of wages and an $81 weekly amount, one-third of wages is $945. Rounding $945 upward to an $81 multiple gives $972, or 12 weeks. Omitting the rounding step would understate the balance.
For the initial-claim wage tests modeled here, passing the 35-times requirement makes one-third of wages at least 11⅔ weekly amounts. The upward rounding therefore reaches the 12-week limit. This is a calculation result for the supported scenario, not a guarantee that every week will be payable.
| Covered total, spread across at least two quarters | Weekly estimate | Modeled full balance |
|---|---|---|
| $2,835 | $81 | $972 |
| $20,000 | $192 | $2,304 |
| $46,904 | $451 | $5,412 |
The cap boundary is precise: $46,903.99 produces $450, while $46,904 reaches $451. Entering fewer fully payable weeks limits the scenario total; entering more than 12 does not enlarge the balance.
Keep the wage estimate separate from claim approval
It excludes succeeding-benefit-year requalification, partial-work deductions, pensions, severance, waiting-week timing, work-search compliance and separation decisions. Do not apply an initial-claim wage result to a repeat claim without agency review.
The January 2026 claimant handbook says to complete at least five qualifying work-search activities each week. Act 708, effective January 1, 2026, also addresses a state job-board account and reporting the five contacts with weekly certification. Follow your agency instructions and any approved exception; a passing wage calculation does not establish weekly eligibility.
The weekly output is before withholding. An optional percentage models only the amount retained from each payment, not income-tax liability. If your determination supplies a different amount or balance, reconcile the covered wage record with DWS and use the agency-award worksheet for budgeting from that notice.
Arkansas source record
- January 2026 claimant handbook: $451 maximum, up to 12 weeks and separate weekly eligibility
- DWS employer handbook, pages 25–26: base periods, monetary tests and benefit calculation
- Act 412 of 2015: four-quarter average formula
- Act 196 of 2023, section 2: current 12-week limit
- Arkansas Code §11-10-502: whole-dollar weekly rounding, republished by Justia
- Arkansas Code §11-10-504: upward balance rounding, republished by Justia
- Approved Act 708 of 2025: job-board registration and work-search reporting effective January 1, 2026
Current claimant handbook and Act 708 checked October 3, 2026. Read methodology and calculation sources.
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 Arkansas 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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