Oregon Unemployment Benefits Calculator
Oregon pays between $157 and $693 per week for 26 weeks at a 50% replacement rate— and then the details get distinctly Oregonian. The $157 minimum is the highest state floor in the country, reflecting three tiers of minimum wage that climb to $15.95 in the Portland metro. The 1.25x base-period test is more lenient than most states, opening the door wider for gig workers and seasonal employees. And the Training Unemployment Insurance programadds up to 13 extra weeks of benefits if you are retraining from a declining industry — the most generous extension of its kind in the nation. But Frances Online, the newly modernized portal, still has quirks you need to understand. Whether you got laid off from Intel in Hillsboro, lost your restaurant shift in Bend, or your timber job in Roseburg disappeared, OED caps your weekly check at $693. This free calculator gives you the exact number — and the sections below walk you through every twist in the Oregon system.
Oregon does not pay a dependency allowance on regular UI
The $693 Cap, the $157 Floor, and Why Oregon's 1.25x Test Opens the Door Wider
Oregon replaces half your average weekly wage, the same 50% formula most states use. A software engineer at Intel's Hillsboro campus earning $1,800 per week collects $693 from OED (the cap kicks in above $1,386 per week); a home health aide in Eugene making $600 per week gets $300. The formula is straightforward, but the numbers surrounding it are anything but. The $693 maximum requires roughly $18,018 in your highest-earning base-period quarter, which translates to a weekly wage of about $1,386. Anyone above that threshold receives the same flat $693 regardless of whether they earned $1,400 or $4,000 per week. That cap ranks in the top quartile nationally — well above California's notoriously low $450, ahead of Idaho's $496, and competitive with Colorado's $681. Only Washington ($999) and a handful of northeastern states pay more.
The $157 minimum, though, is where Oregon genuinely stands apart. It is the highest state minimum benefit in the entire country, and it reflects something real about Oregon's wage structure: the three-tier minimum wage system that went into effect under Senate Bill 1532 in 2016. Portland metro workers earn a $15.95 floor, standard counties sit at $14.70, and nonurban eastern Oregon counties carry a $14.05 rate — all adjusted annually for CPI each July 1. When the lowest-paid full-time workers in your state earn $562 to $638 per week gross, a 50% replacement rate produces a minimum benefit in the $280 range for someone working full-time at minimum wage. The $157 floor catches workers who earned less than full-time hours — part-time retail clerks, seasonal agricultural hands in the Hood River Valley, students working their way through UO — and ensures they receive something rather than nothing. Compare that to Idaho's $72 minimum or Montana's $30 floor, and the difference is stark. Oregon made a deliberate policy choice to set a high floor, and it matters for the roughly 15% of claimants who would otherwise fall below the threshold.
The 1.25x base-period test is the other distinguishing feature, and it works in the worker's favor. Oregon requires your total base-period wages to equal at least 1.25 times your high-quarter wages. That is substantially lower than the 1.5x threshold Idaho uses, the 1.4x test Montana applies, and the 1.5x standard in most other states. What does this mean in practice? A seasonal hospitality worker in Bend who earned $12,000 during the summer quarter and scraped together $4,000 across the other three quarters has total wages of $16,000. Divide $16,000 by $12,000 and you get 1.33 — above Oregon's 1.25 threshold but below Idaho's 1.5. That worker qualifies in Oregon but would be denied in Boise. The lower multiplier was designed to accommodate Oregon's large seasonal workforce: tourism workers in Central Oregon, agricultural hands in the Willamette Valley, fishing crews out of Astoria and Newport, and the ski-industry staff who rotate between Mount Bachelor and summer hospitality. Oregon also offers an alternate base period using the four most recent completed quarters, which can help recent graduates, workers new to the state, and anyone whose earnings improved in the most recent year. Always request the alternate calculation if the standard base period does not work in your favor — OED does not always volunteer it.
Portland Tech Layoffs, Timber Country Contractions, and the Bend Housing Squeeze
Oregon's economy splits along the Cascades in ways that directly shape who files for unemployment and when. West of the mountains, the Portland metro anchors a tech corridor that runs from downtown through Beaverton (Nike world headquarters) to Hillsboro (Intel's largest fabrication campus). When Intel announces layoffs — and the company has done so in predictable waves, most recently cutting 1,300 Oregon positions in early 2025 — the impact ripples through the entire suburban west side. It is not just the engineers and technicians who lose paychecks; it is the food-truck operators who parked outside Ronler Acres, the childcare centers in Tanasbourne, and the apartment complexes in Orenco Station that see move-out notices spike within 60 days. The WorkSource Portland Metro office at 309 SW 6th Avenue handles the largest UI volume in the state, and Q1 and Q3 produce predictable claim spikes as tech companies restructure after earnings cycles.
East of the Cascades, the economy tells a very different story. Timber employment in Oregon has declined from over 70,000 jobs in the late 1980s to fewer than 25,000 today, and every mill closure in Roseburg, Coos Bay, or Grants Pass pushes workers onto UI who have spent decades in a single industry. The Oregon Employment Department's Training Unemployment Insurance program exists precisely for these workers — displaced timber employees can collect up to 13 extra weeks of benefits while retraining at community colleges for healthcare, advanced manufacturing, or IT positions. But the program requires action before your regular claim expires, and many timber workers learn about TUI too late. The Rogue Valley WorkSource office at 673 Market Street in Medford handles the southern Oregon volume, where Josephine and Douglas County mill closures produce concentrated, long-duration claims that exceed the state average by weeks.
Bend sits at the intersection of both economies and adds its own pressure: a housing market that has become unmoored from local wages. The city's population grew by over 30% between 2015 and 2025, driven by remote workers from California and Seattle who discovered that Deschutes County offers world-class mountain biking, 300 days of sunshine, and a brewery scene that rivals any city in the country. What they also discovered is that housing supply could not keep up, and median asking rent for a one-bedroom in Bend now tops $1,650 per month — wildfire-recovery housing shortages have driven rents up 22% since 2023. A tourism worker laid off between the summer and ski seasons faces a gap where $693 per week in UI benefits covers roughly 42% of a typical one-bedroom rent. The WorkSource Central Oregon office at 1645 NE Forbes Road sees volatile claim volumes that swing with tourism cycles and wildfire-recovery construction timelines, and caseworkers routinely refer Bend claimants to SNAP, the Oregon Energy Assistance Program (OEAP), and Deschutes County housing services.
CHIPS Act Semiconductors, Coastal Fisheries, and the Salem State-Government Budget Cycle
Intel's Hillsboro campus received a $19.7 billion CHIPS Act allocation in March 2025, the largest single award under the federal program, and the ripple effects on Oregon's labor market are still unfolding. The company plans to expand its D1X fabrication facility and build a new D1Z mega-fab, which means thousands of construction jobs over the next three to four years followed by a smaller but stable set of permanent positions. During the construction phase, OED expects temporary unemployment spikes among subcontractors between project phases — concrete crews finish foundation work, then wait for the structural steel contractors, then wait again for the cleanroom envelope. These between-phase gaps are long enough to trigger UI eligibility but short enough that workers hesitate to file, worried that a new assignment will come through any day. OED caseworkers at the Hillsboro WorkSource office are actively encouraging these workers to file during gaps rather than going without income, because every week of unclaimed benefits is money left on the table. Intel's existing workforce in Washington County also faces periodic restructuring; the 2025 layoffs primarily affected the Products group rather than the foundry division, but future rounds could shift.
Oregon's coastal economy operates on rhythms that have nothing to do with semiconductors. The commercial fishing fleet out of Astoria, Newport, and Coos Bay runs on Dungeness crab seasons, salmon runs, and groundfish quotas that can open and close on days' notice. When the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife shuts down a salmon season due to low returns — as happened in 2023 for most of the Columbia River spring Chinook run — deckhands, processors, and dock workers lose income with essentially zero warning. The alternate base period can be a lifeline for these workers, because fishing income is notoriously concentrated in short bursts that may not satisfy the standard look-back. Coastal claimants also face a geographic challenge: the nearest WorkSource office might be 60 miles away in Coos Bay or Tillamook, and the broadband infrastructure in places like Port Orford and Waldport is not reliable enough for the Frances Online portal to function smoothly. OED has mobile outreach units that visit coastal communities, but the schedule is limited and the demand exceeds capacity.
Salem adds a surprisingly predictable cycle of its own. The state capital employs thousands of contract and seasonal workers across dozens of agencies, and when the legislature fails to pass a budget on time — or when agencies impose seasonal hiring freezes during the April-to-May budget review period — those workers land on UI with clockwork regularity. The Mid-Valley WorkSource office at 3178 Center Street NE handles the Salem-Willamette Valley volume, and caseworkers can practically set their watches by the April filing surge. Oregon state government also participates in the Work Share program, which allows agencies to reduce hours rather than lay off workers entirely; the program was extended through 2030 and has been particularly popular among Salem-area state offices. For workers caught in the budget-cycle squeeze, Work Share can mean the difference between a partial UI supplement and a full layoff — but the agency must elect to participate, and not all of them do.
Key Oregon Cities & Unemployment Context
WorkSource Portland Metro at 309 SW 6th Avenue handles the largest UI volume in Oregon. Intel Hillsboro layoffs, Nike Beaverton restructuring, and downtown financial-corridor cuts drive predictable Q1 and Q3 claim spikes. The $15.95/hr Portland minimum wage means many claimants qualify near the $693 state max.
Lane Workforce Partnership at 2510 Oakmont Way serves Eugene-Springfield. University of Oregon academic-calendar layoffs and timber-industry contractions in the southern Willamette Valley produce concentrated May and December claim surges. Duck fans and timber workers share the same waiting room.
WorkSource Central Oregon at 1645 NE Forbes Road serves Deschutes County. Tourism layoffs between summer and ski seasons, plus wildfire-recovery construction contractions, drive volatile UI volume. Median one-bedroom rent exceeds $1,650/month — the $693 max covers roughly 42% of housing costs.
Mid-Valley WorkSource at 3178 Center Street NE. State government seasonal hiring freezes during April and May budget review push contract workers onto UI every year like clockwork. The Work Share program helps some agencies reduce hours instead of cutting positions entirely.
Rogue Valley WorkSource at 673 Market Street handles southern Oregon. Timber-industry contractions in Josephine and Douglas Counties, plus seasonal agricultural layoffs in the Rogue River Valley, drive regional UI volume. TUI retraining is a lifeline for displaced mill workers.
Filing in Oregon: Frances Online, iMatchSkills Registration, and the 20-Day Appeal Window
The Oregon Employment Department completed the second phase of its Frances Online modernization in November 2025, and for once a government IT project actually delivered on its promises. The old Oregon UI Online system — a 1990s-era platform that caused endless pandemic-era nightmares, from fraudulent claims to month-long backlogs — is officially retired. Frances Online integrates ID.me identity proofing, real-time wage verification with the Oregon Department of Revenue, and a mobile-first biweekly certification portal. The migration went through without a single day of downtime, which is practically miraculous for a state unemployment system upgrade. That said, the filing process still has specific steps and deadlines you cannot afford to miss, and the 20-day appeal window is shorter than the 30-day federal standard. Here is the full walkthrough.
Gather 18 months of employer and wage records
Before you open a claim through Frances Online, get your paperwork together. You will need your Social Security number, Oregon driver license or state ID, alien registration number if you are not a citizen, and DD-214 for military service in the past 18 months. List every employer for the past 18 months with name, address, phone, first and last day worked, total gross earnings, and why you left. Federal employees need SF-8 and SF-50. Tech workers at Intel Hillsboro: have your last pay stub ready, because equity and bonus reporting is frequently delayed by four to six weeks. Missing an employer is the single most common reason first payments get delayed, and OED will not process your claim until every employer in your base period is accounted for.
File your claim through the Frances Online portal
Go to oregon.gov/employ/Pages/UI and select "File a New Claim." Oregon requires ID.me identity verification for all new filers, so have your phone and a clear photo of your driver license ready. The application takes 30 to 45 minutes with complete records. You can also file by phone through the OED UI Center at 1-503-947-1394, Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific. Pro tip: do not call Monday morning. Salem telecenter wait times routinely exceed 30 minutes on Mondays, especially during the winter hospitality layoff season. Wednesday afternoon is dramatically better.
File during the first week you become unemployed
Oregon does not pay retroactively — full stop. Your claim effective date is the Sunday of the week you file, no matter which day you actually lost your job. Wait two weeks and you lose two weeks of benefits permanently. Filing on a Wednesday or Thursday typically gets you faster processing because OED staff have cleared the Monday-Tuesday backlog. After you submit, you receive a confirmation number and a paper Monetary Determination within 7 to 10 business days showing your weekly benefit amount, max benefit amount, and the base-period wages OED used.
Wait for your wage and separation determinations
OED issues two separate determinations. The Monetary Determination confirms your base-period wages qualify you — usually within 7 to 10 days. The Separation Determination (whether your reason for leaving qualifies) takes 14 to 21 days, longer if your employer fights it. OED may schedule a phone fact-finding interview; these run about 15 to 20 minutes but can take three weeks to schedule during winter tech-sector layoff season. Here is the critical part: keep requesting payment every two weeks while you wait. Miss even one certification period and you forfeit those weeks. There is no grace period.
Request payment every two weeks through Frances Online
Oregon calls it "request payment" rather than "certify," but it is the same process. Every two weeks, log in to the Frances Online portal and answer five questions: did you work, what were your gross earnings, did you refuse work, were you able and available, and did you meet your work-search requirement. Oregon assigns payment-request days based on the last digit of your Social Security number. Submit on your assigned day — miss it and your payment gets delayed. There is no VRU (voice response unit) option in Oregon. Payment requests must be filed online or by phone through a claims agent, which adds friction for workers without reliable internet access, particularly in rural eastern Oregon and along the coast.
Register with WorkSource Oregon within 14 days
Oregon requires WorkSource Oregon registration at worksourceoregon.org within 14 calendar days of filing your initial claim. You need to create a profile in the iMatchSkills system, upload a resume, and complete a skills assessment. OED audits WorkSource activity weekly — and failing to register is one of the most common reasons claimants see their first payment held up. Union hiring-hall members and self-employed workers can request exemptions. If you do not have solid internet at home, local WorkSource centers can help with registration; the office locator is at worksourceoregon.org/locations. This step is not optional, and OED will not remind you after the 14-day window closes.
Appeal any denial within 20 calendar days
If OED denies your claim, you have 20 calendar days from the date the determination was mailed to file an appeal — shorter than the 30-day federal standard, so do not sit on it. File online through the Frances Online portal, by fax at 503-947-1315, or by mail to Oregon Employment Department, Office of Administrative Hearings, 875 Union Street NE, Salem, OR 97311. The Office of Administrative Hearings schedules a phone hearing before an Administrative Law Judge within 4 to 6 weeks. Roughly 33% of appealed denials get reversed, which is a meaningful success rate. Free legal help is available through Legal Aid Services of Oregon at laso.org and Oregon Law Center. Open your mail the day it arrives — the 20-day clock starts from the mailing date, not the date you read the letter.
1-503-947-1394
Mon-Fri 8 AM - 5 PM Pacific
TTY: 1-800-735-2900
Frances Online: oregon.gov/employ/Pages/UI
Available 24/7 — ID.me required
WorkSource: worksourceoregon.org
High Tax Rates, Generous Credits, and What the Three-Tier Minimum Wage Really Means for UI
Oregon taxes unemployment benefits as ordinary income at rates from 4.75% to 9.9% for tax year 2026 — one of the highest top marginal rates in the country. The top bracket kicks in above $125,000 of taxable income for single filers, which means a worker who earned $80,000 in wages before being laid off and then collected $18,018 in maximum UI benefits would have total income of roughly $98,018 — still in the 8.75% bracket, not the top. But a dual-income household where both spouses work could easily cross the threshold, and the 9.9% rate on UI benefits is a real bite. OED mails Form 1099-G by January 31 and posts it to the Frances Online portal. Voluntary 10% federal withholding is available via Form W-4V, and Oregon offers state withholding at a default 6% rate (claimants may elect higher). This is better than Montana, where DLI offers no state withholding at all, but the 6% default may not cover your actual liability if your total income pushes you into a higher bracket.
The bright spots are real, though. Oregon's refundable Earned Income Tax Credit runs 9% of the federal EITC — bumped to 12% if you have a qualifying child under age 3 — and because it is refundable, you receive the full amount even if your tax liability is zero. For a worker with two children earning $30,000, the federal EITC is roughly $5,920, and Oregon adds another $533 to $710 on top. That is meaningful money when you are living on UI. Oregon also offers the Oregon Kids Credit of up to $1,000 per child under age 6 for households below 200% of the federal poverty line. The combination of the refundable state EITC and the Kids Credit means that low-income UI recipients often net more from these credits than they owe in UI tax. It is one of the better state credit packages in the country, and OED caseworkers routinely help claimants connect with free tax-preparation services through CASH Oregon and AARP Tax-Aide to ensure they claim every dollar they are entitled to.
The three-tier minimum wage system adds another layer. Portland metro workers earn $15.95 per hour, standard counties sit at $14.70, and nonurban counties carry a $14.05 rate. Oregon does not allow a tip credit — tipped workers must be paid the same cash wage as non-tipped workers, unlike most states. This means a full-time server at a Portland restaurant earning $15.95 per hour plus tips has a baseline wage of $638 per week, and a 50% replacement rate produces a UI benefit of $319 per week before tips are considered. Tips are not included in the OED wage calculation for UI purposes, which is a significant advantage for hospitality workers. However, Oregon prohibits cities and counties from setting their own local minimum wages above the state tiers — the Portland rate applies to the entire urban growth boundary, not just the city limits, which covers Hillsboro, Beaverton, Gresham, and Lake Oswego under the same $15.95 floor. The annual CPI adjustment each July 1 means these rates will continue climbing, which in turn pushes the $157 minimum UI benefit higher over time.
Getting Paid: Direct Deposit, ReliaCard, and the Portland Rent Gap
OED pays benefits either by direct deposit to a checking or savings account or by the U.S. Bank ReliaCard Visa prepaid debit card. Direct deposit is the better option by a wide margin — funds typically post within 24 to 48 hours of your weekly certification, and there are no ATM fees, card replacement costs, or skimming risks to worry about. The ReliaCard carries no monthly maintenance fee and offers two free in-network ATM withdrawals per pay period, with subsequent out-of-network withdrawals costing $1.50 and balance inquiries at out-of-network ATMs running $0.50. Cards expire after three years; replacement is free for expired cards but $7.50 for a lost card. OED strongly recommends direct deposit, citing recurring skimming incidents at Portland and Eugene ATMs during 2024 and 2025 that compromised several hundred cards. If you have a bank account, use direct deposit. If you do not have one, open one before you file — Oregon has several credit unions and community banks that offer no-fee checking accounts, and the WorkSource offices can direct you to options.
The cost-of-living picture in Oregon is a tale of two states, and the numbers tell the story. Median asking rent for a one-bedroom in Portland now tops $1,750 per month — housing costs rival Seattle, and if you are renting near Hawthorne or in the Pearl District, you are paying for the privilege. Bend is not far behind at around $1,650, where wildfire-recovery housing shortages have driven rents up 22% since 2023. Eugene sits near $1,300, and Salem is somewhat more manageable at roughly $1,100. The $693 maximum OED weekly benefit pencils out to roughly $3,000 a month — enough to scrape by in Portland if you are extremely careful, tighter in Bend, and workable in Eugene and Salem. Oregon's strict urban growth boundary limits new housing construction in the Portland metro, which keeps rents stubbornly high even during economic downturns. The land-use planning rules from the 1970s that make Oregon distinctive also make it expensive for renters, and UI benefits were never designed to cover full market rent in a city where the median one-bedroom costs more than $1,700.
OED caseworkers routinely refer claimants to SNAP, the Oregon Energy Assistance Program (OEAP), and TANF as supplementary support. The bright spot in the financial picture is Oregon's refundable state Earned Income Tax Credit at 9% of the federal credit (12% if you have got a kid under 3), plus the Oregon Kids Credit of up to $1,000 per child under 6 for households below 200% of the federal poverty line. These credits are among the more generous state matches on the West Coast, and they can significantly offset the sting of Oregon's high income tax rates on UI benefits. The 2025-2027 state budget also directed $14.7 million to fraud-detection staffing at OED — a direct response to the $4.7 billion in fraudulent pandemic-era claims documented in a scathing 2024 Secretary of State audit. The enhanced fraud screening means identity verification is more rigorous than ever, which protects the system but can also delay legitimate claims. Have your ID.me account set up before you file, and make sure your employer information matches exactly what OED has on record from wage reports filed with the Oregon Department of Revenue.
Oregon Unemployment FAQ
Need Help With Your Oregon Unemployment Claim?
Whether you are a laid-off Intel engineer in Hillsboro, a displaced timber worker in Roseburg, or a Bend hospitality employee between seasons, OED has resources available. File through Frances Online, register with WorkSource Oregon within 14 days, and remember: if you are in a declining industry, apply for TUI before your regular claim expires. That 13-week extension is the most generous in the country, but only if you act in time.
Oregon Employment Department • Phone: 1-503-947-1394 • TTY: 1-800-735-2900