Wisconsin Unemployment Calculator: Up to $370/Week, 26 Weeks

Four percent of the highest quarter

Wisconsin's weekly benefit rate is 4% of covered wages paid in the highest quarter of the base period, rounded down to a whole dollar. A computed rate below $54 does not qualify. The current maximum is $370, reached at high-quarter earnings of $9,250.

For a $5,000 high quarter, the rate is $200. A $1,350 high quarter reaches the $54 minimum; $1,349.99 falls below it after rounding. Do not raise a below-minimum calculation to $54. The rest of the wage record must also pass the monetary tests.

Enter the four quarters from the base period accepted by Wisconsin DWD. The ordinary period uses the four completed quarters that precede the most recent one; an alternate period may use the most recent four when the regular period is insufficient. Covered employment and the correct period must be confirmed before entering wages.

Two wage tests apply after the rate is calculated

Total base-period wages must be at least 35 times the weekly rate. Wages outside the single highest quarter must be at least four times the rate, and covered wages must occur in two or more quarters. These are different checks; a large high quarter alone is not enough.

A $1,350 high quarter plus $540 in another quarter reaches $1,890, exactly 35 times $54. Its $540 outside wages also exceed four times $54. Reducing the second quarter by one cent fails the total-wage test.

For a capped rate, $12,000 in one quarter plus $1,480 elsewhere passes: total wages exceed $12,950 and outside wages exactly meet four times $370. Reducing outside wages to $1,479.99 fails even though the total remains above $12,950.

DWD's published rate chart contains some inconsistent intermediate figures. This worksheet applies the current statutory formula and the agency's separate 35-times and four-times requirements, rather than copying those inconsistencies.

The wage balance can limit the claim

The regular maximum benefit amount is the smaller of 26 weekly rates and 40% of total covered base-period wages, rounded down to a whole dollar. The maximum possible regular balance is $9,620 at $370 for 26 weeks.

With $5,000 in one quarter and $2,500 in another, the $200 rate passes both wage tests. Forty percent of $7,500 is $3,000, below the $5,200 limit from 26 weekly rates. That balance supports 15 full $200 payments. The worksheet's week count describes exhausting the balance under the full-week scenario, not the length of the benefit year.

The normal benefit year spans 52 weeks. Partial payments and work interruptions can spread an available balance over more calendar weeks. They do not create extra base-period entitlement.

A last payment can include a small remainder

Wisconsin Statute §108.05(1m) directs a final payment to include a remaining difference of $5 or less. The model applies that rule to consecutive, fully eligible payments without deductions.

A $5,000 high quarter plus $2,512.50 in another gives a $200 rate and a $3,005 balance. After 14 payments, $205 remains. The fifteenth modeled payment exhausts that $205, so 15 weeks total $3,005.

With the second quarter increased to $2,515, the balance becomes $3,006. After 14 payments, $206 remains: the difference is $6, so week 15 pays the normal $200 and a final $6 payment requires another eligible week. The worksheet therefore shows 16 payment weeks in that example.

Keep other eligibility decisions separate

A blank date uses your current local date. The current statutory schedule continues subject to amendment; the source-review date is not an annual cutoff. Blank quarters do not become zero wages.

If you received benefits in a prior benefit year, DWD also checks work and earnings since that year's start; this worksheet does not resolve that requalification requirement. It also excludes separation decisions, weekly earnings deductions, pensions, offsets, the waiting week and special programs.

The withholding illustration applies your percentage to the regular base weekly rate. It is not a tax calculation or a separate forecast for a larger final payment. Use the agency-award planner for an existing determination or read how to prepare the inputs.

Wisconsin source record

• DWD qualifying wages: rate, two wage tests and base-period explanation.
• DWD employer handbook, benefit qualification and entitlement: whole-dollar balance rounding and prior-year requirement.
• Wis. Stat. §108.05: weekly formula, final $5 remainder and payment rounding.
• Wis. Stat. §108.06: 26-rate / 40%-wage balance limit.
• DWD weekly rate calculator
• DWD rate chart: read alongside current qualification rules.

Verified October 1, 2026. See methodology and calculation sources.

Supported claim periods and annual handoff

The Wisconsin wage-estimate calendar supports 2026-01-01 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.