NJUnemployment insurance worksheet
New Jersey Unemployment Calculator: Up to $905/Week
In New Jersey, unemployment pays up to $905 a week for up to 26 weeks; your weekly amount is 60% of your average weekly wage over your base weeks.
Checked against primary sources · updated See the sources
How New Jersey works out your amount
New Jersey 2026: enter covered wages, agency-confirmed base weeks and approved dependents (zero if none). A missing dependent count leaves the final weekly amount unresolved.
Weekly earnings reduction is not modeled here unless your state source gives a rule. Optional withholding is separate from the gross estimate.
The New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development decides eligibility, base-period wages, payable weeks, reductions, withholding and the final award. Use the official record below to verify this scenario.
New Jersey: Published NJDOL schedules: 2026 $905 weekly cap, $310 base-week or $15,500 annual-wage qualification; 2027 $937 cap, $319 base-week or $16,000 qualification. The weekly wage divisor is capped at 52; dependency rules require agency confirmation. https://www.nj.gov/labor/myunemployment/before/about/calculator/index.shtml (verified 2026-10-02)
2026 qualification has two routes
For a 2026 claim, NJDOL requires either 20 or more base weeks with at least $310 in covered earnings per week, or at least $15,500 in total covered base-year earnings. Enter the four wage quarters and the confirmed base-week count. A quarter total cannot reveal how earnings were distributed between weeks.
The calculator checks both routes. It rejects inconsistent entries when the claimed number of $310 base weeks would require more wages than the entered annual total. Missing base weeks do not become zero. The entered claim year selects the published 2026 or 2027 schedule; the separate 2027 section below lists that year's agency figures. A blank date uses your current local date. A later unverified year needs the official-award worksheet rather than a copied annual maximum.
Average weekly wages determine the rate
The agency glossary describes average weekly wages as base-period wages divided by base weeks. The base weekly rate is 60% of that average, rounded down to a whole dollar and capped at $905 for 2026. Use employer-reported covered earnings and the agency's base-week count. Multiple employers, overlapping employment and an alternative base year can require an agency adjustment.
Example: $20,000 in covered wages over 40 base weeks gives a $500 average and a $300 base weekly rate. With zero approved dependents, 26 regular weeks produce a $7,800 balance. Ten full eligible weeks model $3,000. Changing the base-week count changes the average, so copying an arbitrary 52 into that field can distort the result.
Dependents can increase the rate within the cap
An approved first dependent adds 7% of the base rate; each of the next two adds 4%, up to 15% in total. The adjusted amount is rounded down and cannot exceed $905. In the $300 example, three approved dependents produce $345 weekly and a $8,970 regular balance. At a $900 base rate, one dependent still cannot push the final rate above $905.
Enter zero when no allowance applies. A blank count leaves the final weekly amount and balance unknown while preserving the base-rate calculation. Dependency is not established just by entering household size: an employed spouse or civil-union partner can prevent the allowance, and supporting documentation is required. NJDOL says the application must be made within six weeks of the claim date.
Fewer base weeks can limit the balance
The regular maximum uses the number of base weeks, limited to 26, multiplied by the weekly rate. Twenty qualifying base weeks support a 20-week ceiling. At $10,000 total wages over those 20 weeks and no dependents, the $300 rate gives a $6,000 balance. Eligibility through the alternative $15,500 route does not automatically create 26 base weeks.
The highest regular 2026 balance is $23,530: 26 × $905. A monetary balance remains conditional on weekly eligibility, and an unused amount is not automatically paid out at the end of the benefit year.
Full weeks, partial work and withholding
The results here model full eligible weeks. NJDOL's partial-benefit rules also consider current earnings and hours worked, so a part-time week needs separate agency review. Pensions, offsets, separation and availability are not decided by this form. The optional withholding illustration is separate from gross benefits and is not a calculation of your income-tax liability.
New Jersey sources checked October 1, 2026
- NJDOL: benefit calculation, 2026 limits and duration
- Agency glossary: average weekly wages and base weeks
- Dependency rules and application window
- Current UI regulations, including 2026 monetary thresholds
Review the scope of the estimates or choose another state on the national worksheet.
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 New Jersey wage-estimate calendar supports 2026-01-01 to 2026-12-31; 2027-01-01 to 2027-12-31. 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.
Agency-published 2027 schedule
NJDOL now publishes a $937 weekly maximum, a $319 base week and a $16,000 alternative earnings test for benefit years beginning in 2027. The dated worksheet selects these amounts instead of copying the 2026 $905, $310 and $15,500 values. Average weekly earnings divide covered wages by confirmed base weeks, with a statutory divisor ceiling of 52 even when the record counts 53 partial base weeks. Dependency percentages stay unchanged.
NJDOL rate information: 2027 maximum, base weeks and alternative earnings, checked October 2, 2026.
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