Rhode Island Unemployment Calculator: $777 Max + Dependents

July 2026 unemployment benefits use an $82–$777 base range

The Rhode Island Department of Labor and Training's July 1, 2026 quick reference sets unemployment benefits at an $82 weekly minimum and $777 base maximum. With five approved dependents, the maximum full-week amount is $971. These are unemployment insurance figures; the $1,150 temporary disability maximum belongs to a separate program.

Earlier claims use their earlier schedule; the January 2026 $745 unemployment cap is not applied to this July schedule. The agency fixes the claim's weekly rate for its benefit year.

Add the two highest covered quarters, divide by two, take 3.85% and round down to a whole dollar within the current base range. Four $5,000 quarters have a $5,000 top-two average, producing $192 weekly. The ordinary base account is $4,992. Ten modeled full weeks draw $1,920. Optional 10% withholding shows $172.80 per base weekly payment.

Rhode Island has two monetary qualification routes

One route requires at least $19,200 in total covered base-period wages. The alternative requires all three of: at least $3,200 in one quarter, at least $6,400 total and total wages at least 1.5 times the highest quarter. These current thresholds reflect Rhode Island's $16 minimum wage.

Two $3,200 quarters and two zero quarters pass the alternative route exactly and produce a $123 base rate. At a $6,399.99 total, that route fails its independent total minimum. The wage ratio can also fail even when the high-quarter and total floors are met: $10,000 and $4,999.99 total less than the required $15,000.

A single $19,200 covered quarter can satisfy the separate total-wage route. Averaging that quarter with a zero second-highest quarter produces a $369 base weekly rate. The model does not invent a two-paid-quarter condition that would remove this statutory route. Actual covered wages and nonmonetary eligibility still require agency approval.

Use the agency-accepted four completed quarters that precede the most recent one, or an accepted alternate period if the regular record fails. Wages already used in a prior claim's alternate period cannot simply be reused. A repeat benefit year also has a separate new-work earnings condition outside this initial monetary worksheet.

The base account uses 33% of wages, not 36%

Current section 28-44-9 limits the ordinary base account to the smaller of 33% of total covered wages and 26 times the base weekly amount, rounded down to a whole dollar. Its older 36% branch applies to benefit years before July 2012 and is not the current formula.

The four-$5,000 example has 33% of $20,000, or $6,600, but the 26-week multiple is only $4,992. The weekly multiple controls. For the single-$19,200 example, 33% gives $6,336, less than 26 times $369. That smaller account supports fewer than 26 full-rate payments.

The displayed 26 weeks is the ordinary ceiling. The balance can exhaust earlier, and a final payment can be smaller than the regular base rate. This full-week model caps draws at the base account; it does not decide final-week allowance proration or current-week earnings deductions.

Approved dependents have a separate aggregate limit

Section 28-44-6 allows the greater of $15 or 5% of the base weekly rate for each approved dependent, up to five. It also limits the aggregate supplement to the greater of $50 or 25% of the base rate, then rounds the weekly supplement down to a whole dollar.

At the $777 base maximum, five dependents produce a $194 supplement after aggregate rounding, giving $971 weekly. Flooring each individual $38.85 allowance before adding would incorrectly produce $190. The model rounds the weekly aggregate as the statute requires.

At the $123 base rate, five $15 amounts total $75, but the aggregate limit is $50. The approved inclusive payment is therefore $173, not $198. The general $15-per-dependent summary does not waive the statutory aggregate ceiling.

Enter the count approved for the beginning of the benefit year; dependency is not inferred from household size. The worksheet shows the full-week supplement and inclusive weekly amount separately from the base account and base draw. Dependents are added to payable benefits rather than subtracted from the statutory base account. Actual supplement payments on partial or final weeks require DLT's determination.

Prepare the agency wage record

Enter covered gross wages and the agency effective date. Keep a blank quarter unknown; use zero only when confirmed. The monetary estimate does not decide separation, work search, availability, the waiting period, pensions, child support offsets or benefit payment timing. Do not combine UI with the disability or caregiver program's rate schedule.

Primary Rhode Island sources

• DLT July 2026 quick reference: current monetary thresholds and UI range.
• DLT June 22, 2026 announcement: July $777 base and $971 dependent-inclusive maximum.
• Section 28-44-6: weekly formula, rounding and dependent aggregate limit.
• Section 28-44-9: current 33% base account and 26-week ceiling.
• Section 28-44-11: alternative monetary routes.

Reviewed October 1, 2026. Confirm the approved claim with Rhode Island DLT.

Supported claim periods and annual handoff

The Rhode Island wage-estimate calendar supports 2026-07-01 to 2027-06-30. 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.