NMUnemployment insurance worksheet
New Mexico Unemployment Calculator: $624 Max + Dependents
In New Mexico, unemployment pays up to $624 a week before dependent allowances for up to 26 weeks; your weekly amount is 53.5% of your high-quarter weekly wage.
Checked against primary sources · updated See the sources
How New Mexico works out your amount
New Mexico 2026: 53.5% of high-quarter weekly wages, capped at $624 before approved child allowances. Enter zero if no dependents. Allowance-inclusive account balances require the agency determination; the no-allowance balance is a mathematical ceiling.
Weekly earnings reduction is not modeled here unless your state source gives a rule. Optional withholding is separate from the gross estimate.
The New Mexico Department of Workforce Solutions decides eligibility, base-period wages, payable weeks, reductions, withholding and the final award. Use the official record below to verify this scenario.
New Mexico: NMSA 51-1-4, 51-1-5 and 51-1-42: 53.5% of the high-quarter weekly wage, rounded down to a whole dollar, with wages in two quarters and a separate approved child allowance. The federal July 2026 comparison corroborates the $2,818.70 high-quarter requirement and the $116–$624 base schedule. Without allowances the account ceiling is the smaller of 26 weekly amounts or 60% of wages; accounts that include allowances need agency confirmation. Source review dated October 1, 2026. https://nmonesource.com/nmos/nmsa/en/item/4425/index.do (verified 2026-10-01)
53.5% of your highest quarter's average weekly wages
New Mexico uses the highest covered wage quarter divided by 13, multiplied by 53.5%. Section 51-1-4 rounds the result down to a whole dollar. The federal July 2026 schedule reports a $116 minimum and $624 maximum before child allowances.
A $10,000 high quarter produces $411 before allowances: $10,000 × 0.535 ÷ 13 = $411.53, rounded down. A $15,000 high quarter produces $617, rather than the $577 a generic quarter-divided-by-26 formula would produce. The $624 base ceiling is reached at about $15,162.62 in the high quarter.
Enter all four completed wage quarters from your monetary record. A blank quarter stays unknown; enter zero only when the record confirms no covered wages in that quarter.
Two paid quarters and a separate high-quarter requirement
Sections 51-1-4 and 51-1-5 require wages in at least two base-period quarters. The federal schedule lists a $2,818.70 high-quarter requirement for 2026. This calculator checks both conditions and does not raise a below-threshold record to the $116 minimum.
A $2,818.70 high quarter and $1,000 in another quarter pass these monetary screens. A $2,818.69 high quarter fails the published threshold. A single $20,000 quarter with three zeros fails the two-quarter condition. These examples concern wage qualification; DWS separately decides your separation, availability and ongoing weekly eligibility.
The regular base period is the four completed calendar quarters that precede the most recent one. Section 51-1-42 provides an alternative using the last four completed quarters when the regular period is insufficient. Ask DWS which period applies before entering the wages; do not select whichever quarters happen to give a larger payment.
Up to two approved child allowances
An eligible, documented dependent child can add $25 per week, up to two children and no more than half the base weekly rate. DWS must approve the child under its rules; being a parent alone does not establish the allowance. Enter zero if there is no approved allowance. A missing count leaves the dependent-inclusive weekly result unresolved, while the base weekly amount remains visible.
With a $411 base rate, one approved child gives $436 per week and two give $461. At the $624 base ceiling, two approved allowances bring the weekly total to $674. The larger figure is not the base maximum for every claimant.
Current NMAC 11.3.300.327 requires declaration at the initial claim and supporting verification within 14 days of the allowance application. Only one claimant may receive an allowance for the same child.
Twenty-six weeks is a ceiling, not a funded promise
For a claim without an allowance, the statutory mathematical balance is the lesser of 26 base weekly amounts and 60% of total covered base-period wages. A $10,000 high quarter plus $5,000 in another quarter gives a $411 weekly rate, but the wage ceiling is $9,000. Twenty-one full weeks use $8,631; modeling a twenty-second week reaches the $9,000 ceiling rather than another full $411.
The displayed no-allowance balance is an estimated ceiling to cents. The reviewed statute expressly floors weekly and dependent benefits, but the agency's final account precision could not be verified. The allowance-inclusive account rule needs the DWS monetary determination: when approved children are entered, this worksheet shows the weekly amount and leaves total balance and claim total unresolved.
Part-time earnings above one-fifth of the weekly benefit amount reduce payments under section 51-1-4. This full-unemployment worksheet excludes those reductions, pension offsets, prior-claim work requirements, the waiting week, extensions and nonmonetary eligibility. Optional withholding changes the cash estimate, not the legal award or your final tax bill.
Official rules and the 2026 schedule
- Current New Mexico Statutes, chapter 51: sections 51-1-4, 51-1-5 and 51-1-42.
- Current claims-administration rules: NMAC 11.3.300.327 dependency verification.
- U.S. Department of Labor July 2026 schedule: high-quarter requirement and base/allowance ranges; this federal comparison is not an official interpretation of state law.
- New Mexico DWS claimant information: consult the agency determination for your account. Its pages returned a request-rejection message during this review, so their unseen contents were not used to validate the model.
Rules reviewed October 1, 2026. The wage-based model replaces the previous generic estimate; it cannot decide your eligibility or guarantee payment.
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 Mexico wage-estimate calendar supports 2026-01-04 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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