VAUnemployment insurance worksheet
Virginia Unemployment Calculator: Up to $478/Week, 26 Weeks
In Virginia, unemployment pays up to $478 a week for up to 26 weeks; your weekly amount is read from VEC's table for your two highest quarters.
Checked against primary sources · updated See the sources
How Virginia works out your amount
Virginia July 2026: use the verified $160–$478 weekly table and 12–26 week duration cells. At least $3,000 in the two highest quarters and two paid quarters are needed. The exact $3,000-total duration gap remains unresolved until the agency confirms it.
Weekly earnings reduction is not modeled here unless your state source gives a rule. Optional withholding is separate from the gross estimate.
The Virginia Employment Commission decides eligibility, base-period wages, payable weeks, reductions, withholding and the final award. Use the official record below to verify this scenario.
Virginia: VEC's current July 2026 benefit table ($160–$478) with its duration cells, reconciled row by row. Under Va. Code 60.2-612 a claimant needs at least $3,000 in the two highest quarters and wages in two quarters; Va. Code 60.2-607 sets 12–26 weeks, and the account is the weekly amount times those weeks. At exactly $3,000 in total wages the printed table leaves a gap before its first duration cell, so that case stays unresolved. Source review dated October 1, 2026. https://www.vec.virginia.gov/sites/default/files/bentable.pdf (verified 2026-10-01)
Virginia raised new-claim benefits again in July 2026
VEC's current guidance verifies a $160–$478 weekly range for new claims filed on or after July 5, 2026. The earlier 2026 range was $112–$430. The $378 maximum found in older pages is not the current new-claim ceiling.
The current agency benefit table uses the sum of the two highest covered wage quarters. The first row covers $3,000–$3,050 and pays $160. At $3,050.01, the next row pays $161. These are exact table bands, rather than a generic high-quarter formula.
A two-quarter sum of $10,000 belongs in the $9,950.01–$10,000 row, paying $299. A sum of $10,000.01 gives $300. The maximum $478 row starts at $18,900.01; at $18,900 exactly, the weekly rate is $477.
An earlier claim cannot receive the July increase automatically; use the agency's original award. A blank date uses your current local date. The supported July 2026 statutory schedule continues subject to amendment, rather than expiring on the source-review date.
At least $3,000 in two covered quarters is required
Code section 60.2-612 requires the highest-two-quarter wage amount to meet the relevant table minimum and requires earnings in at least two quarters. A single $20,000 covered quarter does not satisfy the two-quarter condition.
Two $1,500 quarters reach the $3,000 monetary boundary and the $160 weekly row. One cent below $3,000 in the two highest quarters fails. The weekly-rate test and the duration table are separate steps.
At an exact $3,000 total, the published first duration cell starts at $3,000.01. The reviewed sources do not resolve that one-cent discrepancy. This worksheet retains the calculable $160 weekly rate and leaves the account and duration unknown at that exact total. It does not invent an agency account.
Use covered wages from your VEC determination for the selected four-quarter base period. A regular period normally uses the four completed quarters that precede the most recent one; special or alternate periods require the agency's selection.
The same weekly rate can have 12 or 26 funded weeks
The current table has 319 weekly rows, each with 15 duration bands from 12 to 26 weeks. Section 60.2-607 ties the ordinary account to that benefit table, subject to a 26-rate ceiling. The total wages across all four quarters determine which duration cell applies.
Four $5,000 quarters total $20,000. The highest-two sum is $10,000 and the weekly rate is $299. In that weekly row, the 26-week duration starts at $19,900.01 total wages, so this record funds 26 weeks and a $7,774 account. Ten full weeks use $2,990; optional 10% withholding shows $269.10 weekly.
Two $5,000 quarters with two zeros produce the same $299 weekly rate, but only $10,000 total wages. That falls in the 12-week duration cell, producing a $3,588 account. A calculation that assigns 26 weeks to both records would overstate the second balance.
In this $299 row, total wages of $19,900 give 25 weeks and a $7,475 account. Adding one cent moves to 26 weeks and $7,774. The exact published duration boundaries matter; rounding an earnings ratio is not substituted for the table.
Worked example: a claim filed October 14, 2026
Take a claim filed October 14, 2026, so the July 2026 table applies, with covered wages of $2,800, $3,900, $5,400, $5,140 in the four base-period quarters, oldest first. The worksheet above returns the same rate, weeks and account for those entries and that date.
| Stage | Calculation | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| Two highest quarters | $5,400 + $5,140 | $10,540 |
| Monetary test | At least $3,000 in the two highest quarters, wages in two or more quarters (§60.2-612) | Met |
| Weekly benefit amount | Column A row $10,500.01–$10,550 (§60.2-602 D) | $310 |
| All four quarters | $2,800 + $3,900 + $5,400 + $5,140 | $17,240 |
| Weeks funded | Duration cell $16,500.01–$17,250 on the $310 row | 20 weeks |
| Benefit account | 20 × $310 (§60.2-607) | $6,200 |
The two smaller quarters do not move the weekly rate, but they decide the duration: $10 more in total wages would still leave this record at 20 weeks, and one cent past $17,250 moves it to the 21-week cell.
What the monetary worksheet leaves to VEC
The model evaluates the current ordinary full-unemployment table. It excludes waiting weeks, weekly earnings deductions, pensions, overpayment offsets, approved training and extended benefits. A passed monetary test does not decide separation, availability, work search or ongoing certification.
Keep an unknown quarter blank until the record is available. Optional withholding is separate from income tax due and does not reduce the displayed gross balance draw. Confirm an unsupported date or the exact minimum-total discrepancy against the agency determination.
Primary Virginia sources
- Current VEC benefit information and July 2026 increase announcement: the new-claim timing and $160–$478 range.
- Current VEC benefit and duration table: all weekly wage bands and total-wage duration cells.
- Code 60.2-602, 60.2-607 and 60.2-612: weekly table, account ceiling and monetary qualification.
Reviewed October 1, 2026. Use VEC claimant services for the actual determination.
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 Virginia wage-estimate calendar supports 2026-07-05 to the current statutory schedule, subject to amendment. 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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