DCUnemployment insurance worksheet
DC Unemployment Calculator: Up to $444/Week, 26 Weeks
In the District of Columbia, unemployment pays up to $444 a week for up to 26 weeks; your weekly amount is your highest quarter divided by 26.
Checked against primary sources · updated See the sources
How District of Columbia works out your amount
District of Columbia: high-quarter wages divided by 26 and rounded down, capped at $444. Check the two-quarter and high-quarter distribution tests; a shortfall of up to $70 lowers the weekly amount by $1 or $2. The regular balance is 26 weekly amounts.
Weekly earnings reduction is not modeled here unless your state source gives a rule. Optional withholding is separate from the gross estimate.
The District of Columbia Department of Employment Services decides eligibility, base-period wages, payable weeks, reductions, withholding and the final award. Use the official record below to verify this scenario.
District of Columbia: D.C. Code 51-107 and the current DOES schedule: high-quarter wages divided by 26 and rounded down, a $444 weekly cap, two-quarter and capped high-quarter distribution tests, a reduction of $1 or $2 for a shortfall of up to $70, and 26 weekly amounts. Older half-wage balance and dependent supplements do not govern current claims. https://code.dccouncil.gov/us/dc/council/code/sections/51-107 (verified 2026-10-02)
DC's wage screen has three distinct conditions
The District requires at least $1,300 in the highest covered quarter, $1,950 across at least two covered quarters, and sufficient total wages for the distribution test. The ordinary distribution requirement is 1.5 times the highest quarter. Under DC Code 51-107(c)(2), high-quarter wages above the amount needed to receive the maximum are ignored for this test. At the currently published $444 maximum, that high-quarter comparison ceiling is $11,544. Increasing one already-high quarter therefore does not indefinitely raise the distribution requirement.
These conditions establish monetary qualification only. DOES separately reviews separation from work, ability and availability, weekly certifications and other eligibility requirements. Enter the quarters accepted for your claim rather than your net paycheck or unaccepted combined-state wages.
The weekly amount rounds downward
The high-quarter calculation divides covered wages by 26, rounds downward to a whole dollar and caps the result at $444. Although subsection(b)(1) retains older upward-rounding language, subsection(h), effective October 1983, specifically directs all amounts to round downward. The federal comparison corroborates downward rounding. The current DOES handbook supplies the $444 agency maximum; the statute's older $425 paragraph is not the current agency determination.
For four $6,000 quarters, the highest-quarter calculation is $6,000÷26=$230.7692, producing $230. Total wages of $24,000 exceed both $1,950 and the $9,000 distribution threshold. The ordinary regular account is 26×$230=$5,980. Ten full eligible weeks draw $2,300 before deductions. The remaining balance does not predict when payments will arrive.
A small distribution shortfall can reduce the rate
An otherwise qualified claimant can still qualify when total wages fall short of the distribution threshold by no more than $70. A shortfall up to $35 reduces the computed weekly amount by $1; a shortfall above $35 through $70 reduces it by $2. This exception does not waive the independent $1,300, $1,950 or two-quarter conditions.
For a $4,000 highest quarter and total wages of $5,965, the threshold is $6,000. The $35 shortfall reduces floor($4,000÷26)=$153 to $152. A total of $5,964.99 instead crosses the $35 boundary and produces $151. At a $70.01 shortfall the exception is unavailable. These are separate cases from a worker who never has a second covered quarter.
Regular balance and obsolete publications
Current subsection(d) establishes 26 weekly amounts. Some older agency publications describe a balance limited to half the base-period wages. That older explanation conflicts with the current law and the 2020 claimant handbook and is not used here. Dependent supplements in older statutory subsections do not apply to current benefit years. This worksheet models an ordinary full-week account and leaves partial earnings, pension offsets, overpayment recovery, extended benefits and special programs to the applicable agency notice.
The standard base period is the four completed quarters that precede the most recent one. A qualifying alternate period can use the last four completed quarters when the standard period is insufficient. Wages already used to establish a claim cannot simply be reused for another account. Ask DOES about the accepted base period and repeat-claim conditions.
Primary references checked October 2, 2026
- DC Code 51-107: monetary rules, account and rounding
- DC Code 51-101: base period and benefit year
- DOES claimant information and handbook
The 2026 agency schedule is not silently extended into 2027. If that successor is unavailable, use the determination's official award, balance and weeks in the dated handoff. Compare the neighboring Maryland and Virginia models only for their own covered wages.
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 District Of Columbia 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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