2026 ESD Rates · Updated July 2026

Washington Unemployment Benefits Calculator

Enter your weekly wage and see what the Employment Security Department would likely pay you each week. Every figure here follows the 2026 ESD rules, from the $383 floor to the $1,208 cap.

ESD runs Washington’s unemployment program: it pays benefits for up to 26 weeks while you search for new work, and it sets every rule explained below. Claims are filed one week at a time.

Estimate My Weekly Check File with ESD

Washington rate board

2026–27

Maximum weekly benefit

63% of the state average weekly wage

$1,208

Minimum weekly benefit

20% of the state average weekly wage

$383

Full claim length

Inside a 52-week benefit year

26 wks

Waiting week

First eligible week, unpaid

1 wk

Start here

Washington Unemployment Calculator

Enter the gross weekly wage from your last job — or tap a quick pick below. The estimate updates against the 2026 Washington minimum and maximum so you know exactly what range to plan around.

ESD Benefit Estimator

Washington Unemployment Calculator

Gross weekly wage from your last job (before taxes)

Quick picks:

Official method: ESD pays 3.85% of the wages from your two highest base-year quarters, bounded by the $383 minimum and $1,208 maximum. This estimator uses the planning model of about 50 percent of your weekly wage, which lands in the same zone for most Washington workers.

No account needed

The estimate appears instantly and nothing is stored.

July 2026 ESD rates

Bounded by the $383 floor and $1,208 cap.

Planning aid only

ESD issues the official amount after you file.

Know before you file

Washington Unemployment Quick Facts

These are the numbers Washington claimants ask about most. Every one comes from ESD publications and rules current for claims opened after the July 2026 rate update.

$1,208 / wk

Maximum weekly benefit

Applies to claims with the very highest base-year wages.

$383 / wk

Minimum weekly benefit

One fifth of the state average weekly wage — a deliberate design choice.

680 hours

Hours test to qualify

Covered work in your base year — hours, not total wages, decide eligibility.

3.85%

The benefit formula

Of the wages in your two highest base-year quarters, combined.

Weekly

Claim filing rhythm

Weeks run Sunday through Saturday, unlike most states’ biweekly routine.

30 days

Appeal window

Calendar days from the mail date on an ESD determination.

The 2026 picture

Washington Unemployment at a Glance

Washington rebuilds its benefit range every July from the state’s average weekly wage, which keeps the program aligned with local pay. The state also runs one of the country’s most wage-generous formulas: a 3.85 percent rate on your two best quarters, a floor few other states would dare, and an hours-based eligibility test that replaces the wage minimums most states use.

$1,208

Weekly max

$383

Weekly min

Weeks max

680

Hours to qualify

What changed in July 2026: the weekly maximum moved from $1,152 to $1,208(+$56) and the minimum from $366 to $383 (+$17). If you claimed benefits before the update, your claim keeps the older range — the numbers on this page apply to new claims opened on or after the change.

What you would get

Washington Weekly Benefit Amounts by Wage

The planning model behind this table pays about half of your gross weekly wage, then applies the state floor and ceiling. Find a wage close to yours and you will see the range to expect. Wages above roughly $2,416 per week all land on the same $1,208 cap, which is why so many Washington professionals — aerospace engineers, software teams, healthcare managers — receive the maximum.

Gross weekly wage	Estimated weekly benefit	Over 26 weeks	Where it lands
$500	$383	$9,958	At state floor
$800	$400	$10,400	Within range
$1,100	$550	$14,300	Within range
$1,500	$750	$19,500	Within range
$2,000	$1,000	$26,000	Within range
$2,600	$1,208	$31,408	At state cap

Estimates use the 50 percent planning model. Your official ESD amount comes from two quarters of wages, not one weekly paycheck.

The official math

How ESD Calculates Your Weekly Amount

Most states divide a single quarter of wages. Washington averages your two best quarters instead, which softens the blow of one unusually strong stretch followed by slow months. The whole calculation runs in five steps, and every number it touches comes from wage reports your employers already filed.

Identify your base year

The base year is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before the week you file. The most recent finished quarter is skipped, and the current unfinished quarter does not count at all.

Confirm the 680-hour test

Before any math, ESD checks that you worked at least 680 hours in covered employment during those four quarters. Hours — not dollars — are Washington’s eligibility currency, so a low-wage worker with full hours can qualify where a part-time high earner cannot.

Find your two highest quarters

ESD ranks the four quarters of your base year by wages and keeps the top two. A $9,000 quarter plus a $7,000 quarter counts as $16,000, no matter what the other two quarters paid.

Apply 3.85 percent

The two-quarter total is multiplied by 3.85 percent and rounded. Because 3.85 percent is one twenty-sixth, the same figure equals the two-quarter total divided by 26 — the average week inside those two quarters.

Clamp the range and cap the total

Anything below $383 becomes $383; anything above $1,208 becomes $1,208. Your total benefits are then capped at the lesser of 26 weekly checks or one third of all your base-year wages.

The formula ESD applies

Weekly benefit = 3.85% × (your two highest base-year quarters), between $383 and $1,208

Set for claims opened after the July 2026 wage update. The maximum itself is defined in state law as the greater of $496 or 63 percent of Washington’s average weekly wage.

What Your Benefit Says About Your Wages

The formula runs both directions. Once you know a weekly benefit figure, you know almost exactly what the two strongest quarters of your base year paid — which makes it easy to sanity-check the determination letter ESD mails after you apply.

If your weekly benefit is	Your two highest quarters totaled about	That is roughly
$383	$9,950	$383 a week across those two quarters
$600	$15,580	$599 a week across those two quarters
$900	$23,380	$899 a week across those two quarters
$1,208	$31,380	$1,207 a week across those two quarters

Read your determination letter line by line. It lists the four quarters ESD used and the wages reported in each. If a quarter looks wrong — a missing employer, a typo in wages — dispute it in writing right away, because every dollar missing from your two best quarters shrinks your weekly check.

Do you qualify

The 680-Hour Rule and What Else Qualifies You

Washington is one of the few states that measures eligibility in hours worked rather than dollars earned. The test is 680 hours of covered work during your base year — about 13 hours a week sustained across a year. There is no separate minimum wage total to clear, which makes the state unusually workable for seasonal industries, part-year workers, and people who stacked multiple low-wage jobs.

Separations that usually qualify

Layoffs, plant closures, and documented hour reductions lead the list. Firings for genuine inability to meet performance standards generally remain eligible, because Washington reserves disqualification for misconduct connected with the work — not weak output. Quitting is harder, but good-cause quits (verified harassment, unsafe conditions, a documented medical conflict) can still qualify.

Conditions that disqualify

Misconduct — deliberate, willful violations of employer rules — bars benefits, and the employer carries the burden of proving it. Quitting without good cause connected to the work does the same. During the claim, every weekly certification asks whether you are able to work, available, and actively searching; a no answer pauses that week.

One Washington quirk helps part-year workers: if you never worked more than 17 hours in any week during your base year, you are treated as permanently part-time and only need to look for part-time work during the claim. Full-time searchers must be available for full-time work. ESD states both rules plainly on its basic eligibility page.

Real numbers

Worked Example: Priya in Everett

Formulas click faster with a real paycheck. Priya worked as a scheduler for an aerospace supplier in Everett on about $1,250 a week and was laid off in a March restructuring. Here is exactly how her 2026 claim plays out under ESD rules.

Priya’s ledger

Gross weekly wage

Her final rate before the layoff

$1,250

Planning-model estimate

About half her weekly wage, inside the range

$625 per week

The wages behind it

Combined total of her two highest quarters

≈ $16,230

Range check

$625 sits between $383 and $1,208

No change

Maximum benefit amount

$625 x 26 weeks, unless one-third-of-wages caps it first

$16,250

Weekly filing

One claim per week, filed in eServices

Every Sunday–Saturday

Priya files her first weekly claim the Sunday after her layoff, serves the unpaid waiting week, and keeps three job-search activities logged every week. Because her base-year wages were strong, ESD’s one-third total cap does not touch her — she can draw the full $16,250 across 26 weeks if her search takes that long.

Working while claiming

Part-Time Work and the 75 Percent Offset

Washington lets you work part-time — fewer than 35 hours in the week — and still collect. Its earnings offset has two moving parts: the first $5 of gross earnings is ignored, then 75 percent of everything above that is deducted from your weekly benefit. When the deduction reaches the size of the benefit itself, the week pays nothing, but you still report it because a clean record protects every other week of your claim.

Part-time earnings that week	Benefit paid ($600 benefit example)	Why
$180	$469	Deduction = ($180 − $5) × 75% ≈ $131
$400	$304	Deduction = ($400 − $5) × 75% ≈ $296
$810	$0 for the week	The deduction passes the benefit itself — the breakeven sits near $805

Report every dollar, every week. ESD cross-matches employer wage reports against your weekly claims. Unreported earnings become overpayments that must be repaid, and concealing work is fraud — the fastest way to turn a clean claim into a disqualification plus a bill. Our guide on reporting part-time income walks the weekly math step by step.

Claim your benefits

How to File Your Washington Claim

File in the first week you are unemployed — benefits never run earlier than the week you actually apply, and Washington has no backdating for late starts. ESD gives you three ways to open the claim, and the online route is by far the fastest for most people.

Online through eServices

ESD’s eServices portal at esd.wa.gov handles most claims. It is open around the clock, walks you through the wage history, and issues a confirmation you can screenshot the moment you finish.

By phone

Call the claims center at 800-318-6022, weekdays 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Pacific. Lines are busiest Monday mornings, so late-week calls connect far faster.

At a WorkSource office

Walk into any WorkSource Washington center for hands-on help, including resume support and training referrals. Staff can help you start the claim if online access is a barrier.

What to Have Ready

Social Security number and government photo ID

Employer names, addresses, and dates for the last 18 months

Wages from every employer in your base year

Your most recent separation paperwork, if any

Bank routing and account numbers for direct deposit

DD-214 member-4 copy if you served in the military

The first month

After You File: The Weekly Rhythm

Washington certifies weekly, not biweekly — one of only a handful of states that still does. Every Sunday-through-Saturday week is its own claim, and each one asks the same three questions: did you work, did you earn, are you able and available. Here is the sequence from application to first payment.

Confirmation, immediately

eServices shows your confirmation the moment you submit. Every later document and call references it, so save it where you can find it.

Determination letter, about two to three weeks

ESD mails its monetary determination showing your base year, your weekly benefit, and your maximum benefit amount. Challenge wage errors in writing the day you spot them.

The waiting week

Your first eligible week is unpaid. File the claim for it anyway — skipping it creates a gap ESD will not repair later, and the week still starts your record.

Weekly claims, every week

File one claim each week you want benefits, Sunday through Saturday weeks. Miss a week and that week is simply gone — there is no late filing window to rescue it.

Payments, by deposit or ReliaCard

Approved weeks pay by direct deposit or the ESD ReliaCard. Weekly processing means money lands in smaller, steadier installments than biweekly states — easier budgeting, if slower headlines.

For a deeper look at why that first week pays nothing, read our explainer on the waiting week.

Plan for April

Taxes on Washington Unemployment Benefits

Unemployment benefits are taxable income on your federal return. Washington adds nothing on top — the state has no income tax — but the federal side catches people off guard because ESD does not withhold anything automatically. Left alone, every weekly payment lands in full and the tax bill arrives in April.

You can change that during the claim. Federal law allows 10 percent voluntary withholding, and you elect it inside eServices under your payment settings. The election is not retroactive — it applies only to payments processed after you make it — so decide in your first week if April planning matters to you. ESD’s own income tax page covers the mechanics.

January paperwork: ESD mails a 1099-G form reporting every dollar of benefits paid in the prior calendar year. Keep it with your tax documents, and check it against your own records — disputed totals can be corrected by contacting ESD before you file your return. Our guide on unemployment and your taxes explains the full picture.

Staying eligible

Work Search Requirements in Washington

Benefits exist to bridge a job search, and ESD audits that search. Two obligations apply from the day you file: a registration step and a weekly activity minimum. Both are enforced, and both are easy to satisfy when you treat the search itself like a job.

Create your profile on the state job board as part of applying — registration is checked, and a partial profile can fail it. Complete the resume section properly and save a screenshot of the finished profile with its date.

Complete 3 approved activities each week

Every week you file a claim, ESD expects three real job-search activities — applications, employer interviews, or approved workshops. The count is set in state rule, not by your local office, so it is the same in Spokane and Vancouver.

Log everything, keep it all year

For each activity record the employer, the date, the contact method, and the result. ESD can request your log months later, and claimants who produce clean records keep benefits that paperless claimants lose.

Some claimants are exempt: union members on a dispatch list, workers on approved standby for a returning employer, and people in certain approved training programs follow different rules. ESD confirms your requirement in the packet it sends after you apply — read it before assuming the three-activity standard applies to you. The official job search requirements page lists the details, and our guide to documenting your work search shows what a clean log looks like.

If ESD says no

Denied? The 30-Day Appeal Window

A denial letter is a beginning, not an ending. Washington gives you 30 calendar days from the date a determination was mailed to appeal — double the window most states allow — and a meaningful share of first decisions change at the hearing when the claimant shows up organized. Appeals are filed in writing through eServices, by mail, or by fax.

File before day 30

The deadline is calendar days, not business days, and it runs from the mail date printed on the notice — not the day you read it. Late appeals are dismissed without a hearing on the merits.

Keep filing weekly claims

Continue your weekly claims while the appeal is pending. If you win, the weeks you properly filed get paid; weeks you skipped are gone forever.

Bring your evidence to the hearing

Hearings run before an administrative law judge, usually by phone. Organize termination letters, wage records, performance reviews, and witness names in advance, and speak to the facts of the separation.

ESD’s appeals page covers filing methods and what to expect. For a fuller walkthrough of hearings, evidence, and timelines, read our guide on appealing a denied unemployment claim.

Avoid the delays

Six Mistakes That Delay Washington Claims

Most Washington claim delays trace back to a handful of repeat errors. Every one of them is avoidable in under five minutes when you know what ESD is checking.

Starting the claim late

Benefits never run earlier than the week you file. Waiting two weeks to apply simply burns two weeks of eligibility with no way back.

Skipping a weekly claim

Washington files week by week. A skipped Sunday is a skipped week of benefits — there is no biweekly cushion and no late window to file it.

Under-reporting part-time earnings

Report gross earnings for the week worked, not the week paid. The 75 percent offset math only works when the input is honest — discrepancies become overpayments.

Ignoring eServices messages

ESD sends fact-finding questionnaires through the portal with real deadlines, often ten days. No response means the claim is decided on whatever is in the file.

Filing a partial wage history

Employer names, dates, or wages that do not match state records trigger fact-finding. Pull your final pay stubs before you start the application.

Missing the 30-day appeal window

Waiting for the employer to act first is the classic error. Your appeal clock runs from the mail date no matter what anyone else does.

Talk to ESD

Employment Security Department Contact

The agency runs every part of the program. Save these three channels — between them they cover filing, payment questions, appeals, and everything in between.

Claims center

800-318-6022

Weekdays 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Pacific. General claim questions and filing by phone.

eServices

esd.wa.gov

File weekly claims, upload documents, appeal, and message ESD securely.

WorkSource

worksourcewa.com

Job-board registration, workshops, and in-person help at local centers.

Answers first

Washington Unemployment FAQ

The questions Washington claimants actually ask, answered with the July 2026 numbers from this page.

How much unemployment will I get in Washington?

Your weekly benefit is driven by your past wages, not your need. As a quick planning model, Washington pays roughly half of your average weekly wage, bounded by the $383 minimum and the $1,208 maximum. ESD sets the official figure from the wages in your two highest base-year quarters, and the calculator at the top of this page gives you the fast estimate.

How does ESD calculate my weekly benefit amount?

ESD takes the wages from the two calendar quarters where you earned the most inside your base year, multiplies that combined total by 3.85 percent, and rounds the result. The same math is simply your two-quarter total divided by 26. The figure is then clamped between $383 and $1,208 for claims opened after the July 2026 rate update.

How long do Washington unemployment benefits last?

Up to 26 weeks during your 52-week benefit year. Washington also caps your total: you can receive no more than 26 times your weekly benefit, or one third of all the gross wages in your base year, whichever is smaller. Strong wage earners often hit that total-benefit cap before 26 weeks of checks.

Why is the Washington minimum benefit so high?

Washington ties both ends of its benefit range to the state average weekly wage. The minimum is 20 percent of that average and the maximum is 63 percent, which is why the floor reached $383 in July 2026 — far above states that keep a flat minimum. The trade-off is that wages near the bottom produce the minimum, not a smaller check.

When do the Washington rates change?

Every July. ESD recalculates the benefit range from new average annual wage data, and the new limits apply to new claims opened on or after the update — the July 2026 move lifted the maximum from $1,152 to $1,208 and the minimum from $366 to $383. Claims already in progress keep the range that applied when they started.

What is the waiting week in Washington?

The first week you are eligible is a waiting week, and it is unpaid. You still file a claim for that week exactly like any other week. If you do not meet the eligibility requirements during that first week, it does not count as your waiting week — a later eligible week becomes the waiting week instead.

Can I work part-time and still get Washington unemployment?

Yes, as long as you work fewer than 35 hours in the week. Washington deducts 75 percent of your gross earnings after ignoring the first $5. With a $600 weekly benefit, earning $400 means a deduction of about $296, so roughly $304 is paid for that week. Earnings of about $805 or more pause payment entirely — report every hour and dollar either way.

How many job searches do I need each week in Washington?

Three approved job-search activities every week you file a claim, and you must keep a record of each one — employer name, date, contact method, and result. Registration on WorkSourceWA.com is part of staying eligible. ESD can audit your log months later, so keep it for your entire benefit year.

How do I appeal an ESD decision?

File your appeal within 30 calendar days of the date the determination was mailed — the deadline runs from the mail date printed on the notice, not the day you read it. Appeals are filed in writing through eServices, by mail, or by fax. Keep filing your weekly claims while the appeal is pending so the weeks are preserved if you win.

Are Washington unemployment benefits taxed?

Federally, yes — unemployment benefits count as taxable income, and you can elect 10 percent federal withholding in eServices. Washington has no state income tax, so there is no state tax on your benefits. ESD mails a 1099-G form each January reporting the benefits you received the year before.

Where every number comes from

Sources and Verification

Every dollar figure, deadline, and rule on this page traces to an official government source current for claims opened after the July 2026 rate update. We recheck these pages when ESD publishes new wage data each summer.

Compare before you move

Unemployment Calculators for States Near Washington

Washington shares a border with just two states, and both pay dramatically less per week — compare before you relocate for work.

Idaho Unemployment Calculator

Up to $493/week · 26 weeks

Oregon Unemployment Calculator

Up to $693/week · 26 weeks

Keep reading

Maximum unemployment benefits by state

Where Washington’s $1,208 cap ranks nationally.

Can you work part-time and still collect?

How partial benefits interact with hourly work.

The unemployment benefit formula, explained

Why Washington uses two quarters when most use one.

View all 50 states + DC →

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