WAUnemployment insurance worksheet
Washington Unemployment Calculator: Up to $1,208/Week
In Washington, unemployment pays up to $1,208 a week for up to 26 weeks; your weekly amount is 3.85% of the average of your two highest quarters.
Checked against primary sources · updated See the sources
How Washington works out your amount
Washington July 2026: 3.85% of the average of the two highest quarters, rounded down within $383–$1,208. A personal weekly-wage limit can reduce the payment below $383. Enter the required 680 covered hours. The account is one-third of all wages or 26 weekly amounts, rounded down.
Weekly earnings reduction is not modeled here unless your state source gives a rule. Optional withholding is separate from the gross estimate.
The Washington Employment Security Department decides eligibility, base-period wages, payable weeks, reductions, withholding and the final award. Use the official record below to verify this scenario.
Washington: ESD's July 2026 schedule: 3.85% of the average of the two highest base-year quarters, rounded down, within $383–$1,208. A personal weekly-wage limit (the two-quarter average divided by 13) can pay less than $383. At least 680 covered hours are required. Under RCW 50.20.120 the account is the smaller of 26 weekly amounts or one-third of total base-year wages, rounded down. Source review dated October 1, 2026. https://esd.wa.gov/get-financial-help/unemployment-benefits/estimate-your-benefit (verified 2026-10-01)
Washington requires 680 covered hours
Enter gross covered wages for the four quarters in the base year selected by Employment Security Department, plus the covered hours worked during that same period. Washington requires at least 680 hours. Wages alone cannot establish this condition, so leaving the hours blank leaves this worksheet unresolved.
A confirmed 680-hour record passes the hours test; 679.99 does not. Hours must come from covered employment in the selected period. They are not the number of benefit weeks requested, and hours from overlapping jobs must be supported by the agency record.
The regular base year is the four completed calendar quarters that precede the most recent one. ESD may consider an alternate base year if the regular record does not qualify. Enter that selected record rather than combining wages from both periods.
The two largest quarters determine the weekly payment
Average the two quarters with the most earnings, then multiply that average by 3.85%. Washington rounds the weekly result down to a whole dollar. For new claims effective July 5, 2026, the published maximum is $1,208 and the general minimum is $383.
Four $5,000 quarters give a $5,000 high-quarter average. The percentage result is $192.50, below the general minimum. The personal weekly wage is $5,000 divided by 13, or $384.6154, so the worksheet uses $383. Ten modeled full weeks draw $3,830. Optional 10% withholding shows $344.70 per weekly payment separately.
A two-highest-quarter average of $31,376.63 reaches the $1,208 maximum after whole-dollar rounding. One cent less gives $1,207. Increasing earnings beyond the cap does not increase the regular weekly payment.
The $383 minimum has a personal wage exception
The weekly payment cannot exceed the worker's estimated weekly wage. ESD annualizes the average of the two highest quarters by multiplying by four, then divides by 52. This equals the high-quarter average divided by 13. It does not use all four actual quarters in this particular limit.
When the percentage formula falls below $383, compare $383 with this personal weekly wage and use the smaller amount, rounded down. Four $2,800 quarters therefore produce $215 per week, provided the 680-hour condition is met. Raising that result automatically to $383 would overstate the estimate.
At a two-quarter average of $4,979, the personal wage reaches exactly $383. At $4,978.99 it rounds down to $382. The required hours remain a separate condition in both examples.
Worked example: a claim effective October 14, 2026
A claim effective October 14, 2026 falls under the July 5, 2026 schedule. Suppose the base year shows $5,000, $14,000, $12,000, $3,000 in its four quarters, oldest first, and 1,600 covered hours. The worksheet above gives these same figures for those entries and that date.
| Stage | Calculation | Figure |
|---|---|---|
| Hours test | 1,600 covered hours against the 680 required | Met |
| Average of the two largest quarters | ($14,000 + $12,000) ÷ 2 | $13,000 |
| 3.85% of that average | 0.0385 × $13,000 | $500.50 |
| Weekly benefit amount | Between $383 and $1,208 and under the $1,000 personal weekly wage; cents dropped | $500 |
| 26 weekly payments | 26 × $500 | $13,000 |
| One-third of base-year wages | $5,000 + $14,000 + $12,000 + $3,000 = $34,000, ÷ 3, cents dropped | $11,333 |
| Maximum benefit amount | The smaller of the two (RCW 50.20.120(1)) | $11,333 |
The two small quarters do not touch the weekly amount, yet they hold the account to one-third of $34,000: it covers 22.66 payments of $500, so the 23rd week is a partial draw and weeks 24 to 26 are unfunded.
A smaller account can run out before 26 weeks
The ordinary maximum benefit amount is the smaller of 26 weekly payments and one-third of total base-year wages. RCW 50.20.120 rounds fractional dollars down. A 26-week duration ceiling does not promise 26 full payments when the wage-based account is smaller.
The four-$5,000-quarter example has $20,000 total wages and a $6,666 account. With only two $5,000 quarters and two known zero quarters, the weekly amount remains $383 but the account falls to $3,333. Eight full weeks draw $3,064; a ninth requested week is limited by the remaining balance.
This worksheet models gross account draws before deductions. A waiting week, partial earnings, availability, job search, offsets or extended benefits require separate ESD decisions.
Primary Washington sources
- ESD benefit estimator guidance: current limits, personal wage exception and account formula.
- ESD basic eligibility: the covered-hours requirement.
- RCW 50.20.120: weekly computation, annual adjustment and whole-dollar account rounding.
- ESD 2026 wage adjustment notice: July 5 claim schedule.
Reviewed October 1, 2026. Confirm the actual award and wage record with ESD.
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 Washington wage-estimate calendar supports 2026-07-05 to 2027-07-03. 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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