Tennessee Unemployment Calculator: Up to $325/Week, 12 Weeks

Tennessee uses a wage table

Enter covered wages for all four quarters in the base period on your monetary determination. T.C.A. §50-7-301 averages the two highest quarters and looks up that average in its benefit table. The weekly amount ranges from $55 to $325 before any current-week deductions.

The table is not a single wage percentage. For example, an average of $4,420 maps to $194 per week. An average of $4,420.01 enters the next published band at $220. Four quarters of $5,000 produce a $5,000 average, which falls in the $4,992.01–$5,018 band and maps to $242 weekly.

This worksheet includes all 246 table bands. If averaging quarter amounts creates a half-cent exactly between printed bands, the estimate stays unknown; the agency must resolve how it rounds that boundary. An unknown quarter also stays unknown. Enter zero only for a confirmed quarter without covered earnings.

Two separate wage tests can reject a table amount

First, total base-period wages must be at least 40 times the table's weekly benefit. Second, earnings outside the highest quarter must be at least the smaller of $900 or six times that weekly benefit. The statutory thresholds include equality.

For the $242 example, total wages must reach $9,680 and wages outside the highest quarter must reach $900. Four $5,000 quarters pass both tests: the totals are $20,000 and $15,000. One $20,000 quarter with three zero quarters fails the outside-quarter test even though its table amount reaches the $325 ceiling.

A lower-earnings example shows why all quarters matter. Wages of $3,500 and $700, with two zero quarters, average $2,100 in the top pair and map to $105. The $4,200 total exactly meets the 40-times test, and $700 exceeds the $630 outside-quarter requirement. The worksheet follows those separate statutory tests; a positive weekly formula alone is insufficient.

Current duration is 12 weeks

Tennessee's current application guidance says the duration is 12 weeks while the applicable state average unemployment rate is at or below 5.5%. Section 50-7-301(d) allows a longer duration when that rate rises, up to 20 weeks. The October 1, 2026 source review verifies the current 12-week duration; it does not end the wage calendar. The form uses your entered effective date, or your current local date when blank. At the October 16 duration-review checkpoint, enter agency-authorized weeks; without them, the weekly formula can remain known while the balance stays unresolved. That checkpoint is not a statutory expiration.

The $242 example has a regular maximum balance of $2,904. Modeling 10 full eligible weeks gives $2,420 before deductions. At the $325 weekly ceiling, the current 12-week ceiling is $3,900. The former rule limiting the balance to one-quarter of base-period wages applies to older benefit years ending before December 1, 2023; this model does not apply it to a current claim.

Prepare the record before filing or comparing an award

Use the four quarters selected by Tennessee, with employer names and gross covered wages. Check your monetary determination for missing wages and follow the agency's correction or appeal instructions. This calculator does not select alternative periods, combine interstate wages, approve the reason for separation, or decide work-search eligibility.

The optional withholding percentage is a budgeting input, not a tax calculation. Current earnings, severance, pensions, waiting weeks, offsets and weekly certification can change a payment. The modeled balance assumes full eligible weeks and does not predict a deposit date.

Primary Tennessee references

• General Assembly code publication: §50-7-301, benefit table and wage tests
• Tennessee application guidance: $325 ceiling and current duration
• What to expect after filing and weekly certification

Verified October 1, 2026. Review methodology, wage-input preparation or the state selector.

Supported claim periods and annual handoff

The Tennessee 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.