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Diego Fernández

If I live in one state and work in another, where do I file unemployment with California EDD?

So I'm in a bit of a confusing situation and hoping someone here has dealt with this before. I live in California but my employer is actually based in Nevada - I've been commuting across the border for the past two years for this job. Got laid off last week and now I'm sitting here trying to figure out where the heck I'm supposed to file for unemployment benefits. Do I file with California EDD since that's where I live? Or do I file with Nevada because that's where my employer is located and where my wages were earned? I've looked at both state websites and I honestly can't tell which one applies to me. Someone told me you always file where you live but someone else said it's wherever you paid into unemployment taxes. I don't want to file with the wrong agency and mess everything up before I even get started. Has anyone been through this exact situation?

You file where you WORKED, not where you live. Unemployment insurance is based on which state your employer paid UI payroll taxes into. So if your employer was in Nevada and paid Nevada UI taxes on your wages, you'd file there. If your wages show California withholding on your W2 and your employer paid into California EDD, then California EDD is where you go. Check your most recent pay stubs - it should show which state's unemployment insurance was being withheld.

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Okay that actually makes sense. I just pulled out my last pay stub and I don't see any California EDD withholding listed. It just shows federal taxes and state taxes for Nevada. So I guess I'd be filing in Nevada?

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That's the right way to think about it. The state where your employer paid unemployment insurance premiums is the controlling factor, not your home address. Payroll records and W2s are the fastest way to confirm this.

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wait does california edd even let you file if you live here but worked somewhere else? asking for a friend lol

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I went through almost this exact situation about 18 months ago. Lived in California, worked across state lines. The key thing I learned is that unemployment insurance is funded by employer payroll taxes paid to a specific state. Your employer doesn't split those taxes - they pay into ONE state's unemployment fund. That's the state you file with. California EDD handles California-based employers. If your employer operated in Nevada and paid Nevada UI taxes, California EDD wouldn't have any record of your wages and your claim would get denied or delayed indefinitely.

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This is really helpful context, thank you. I'm now pretty sure I need to file in Nevada since all my work was done physically in Nevada even though I slept in California every night.

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Same situation here except reversed - I work remotely FOR a California company but live in another state. Does that mean I should be filing with California EDD? My employer is definitely based in CA and pays CA taxes.

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For remote workers it gets more complicated because some employers pay into the employee's home state for remote arrangements. You'd really need to check your W2 box 15 to see which state tax ID your employer reported your wages under.

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Heads up for anyone in this thread who needs to actually reach California EDD by phone to clarify their specific situation - I know how impossible it can seem to get through. I used a service called Claimyr (claimyr.com) when I was trying to sort out a cross-state wages issue and it got me connected to a live California EDD agent way faster than I ever could on my own. They have a video showing how it works at https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10 - honestly worth checking out if you've been spending hours redialing and getting nowhere.

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I've literally been trying to call California EDD all morning with no luck. Will look into this, thanks.

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does it actually work?? i've been trying to reach EDD for like 3 weeks straight

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It worked for me - got connected within the same day after days of failed attempts on my own. The video demo at https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10 shows how it works pretty clearly.

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the rule is pretty simple once someone explains it: unemployment taxes are paid by employers to STATES not to the federal government. whichever state your employer paid those taxes into is your unemployment state. has nothing to do with your home address. i learned this the hard way when i filed with california edd first and got denied because my employer had been paying into oregon the whole time. wasted like 3 weeks before someone told me this

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Oh no, three weeks lost because of that confusion. Did you have to start completely over with Oregon or could you backdate your Oregon claim to when you originally filed with California EDD?

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had to basically start over with oregon but they did let me backdate to my original layoff date which was a relief. the rep i finally got through to was actually really helpful about it

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This is why I always say read everything before you file. The instructions are there if you look for them but nobody reads them smh

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Okay I want to throw a wrench in here because my situation was different - I worked for a company that had offices in BOTH California and Nevada. My paychecks came from California but I physically worked in Nevada half the time. My W2 showed California as the state employer. I filed with California EDD and it was fine. So the physical location of where you do your work matters less than where your employer's payroll is actually based.

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Hmm okay so it really does come down to where payroll taxes were actually paid, not just where I drove to work every day. I think my situation is cleaner than yours - my employer is purely Nevada-based with no California presence at all.

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You're both right about the same thing actually. The payroll tax state is what determines it. In your case that was California. In OP's case it sounds like Nevada. Same rule, different outcomes based on where the employer paid in.

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NOBODY talks about this enough but if you worked in multiple states during your base period you can sometimes combine wages from both states to get a higher weekly benefit amount!! It's called a combined wage claim and you'd file it through the state you choose but they pull in wages from both states. Might not apply here if OP only worked in one state but for anyone who bounced between states it's worth knowing

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This is a really good point and yes it's an actual option. Combined wage claims can significantly increase your weekly benefit amount if you had earnings in two different states during the base period. You typically file it through one state and they reach out to the other.

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I only worked in Nevada so probably doesn't apply to me but bookmarking this for anyone else who finds this thread, seems useful

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wait what is the base period exactly? is that like the last year of work?

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The base period is typically the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you file. So roughly the 12 months ending about 3-4 months before your filing date. Some states also offer an alternate base period if you don't qualify under the standard one.

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ugh I'm so confused by all of this I just filed with california edd last week and now I'm not sure I filed with the right place. my boss is in california but I physically go to work in nevada too. how do i even know if i made a mistake?? do i have to withdraw and refile or what

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Don't panic yet. Log into your California EDD UI Online account and wait to see if they can verify your wages. If your employer paid into California EDD, your claim will process normally. If not, you'll likely get a notice that wages couldn't be verified and you'll need to refile with the correct state.

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okay that's reassuring. I'll wait and see what the system says before doing anything drastic. this whole process is so stressful

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Same thing happened to my cousin - filed with the wrong state, got a wage verification issue notice about 2 weeks in, called in and the agent told him exactly which state to refile with. Annoying delay but it worked out.

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something nobody mentioned: if your employer is based in california and has california employees but YOU were the only one working in another state, your employer might have gotten a special registration in california to pay your wages under california edd even though you worked in nevada. this is more common with remote workers now but could apply to border commuters too depending on the employer setup. your HR department should be able to tell you definitively which state your unemployment taxes were paid into

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This is a good point - I should probably just contact HR directly and ask them point blank which state they paid unemployment insurance taxes for my wages. That would settle it immediately.

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exactly. just ask HR 'which state was my unemployment insurance paid into' and they'll know. might take a day or two to get an answer from payroll but it's the most definitive way to know before you file anywhere

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Just gonna share my experience - I was in a similar spot, commuted from California into Arizona for work. Called California EDD to ask where I should file and the rep actually told me straight up that they couldn't take my claim because my wages were all Arizona-sourced. She was really helpful and just said 'you need to file with Arizona, we don't have any record of your wages here.' So California EDD themselves will tell you if you're in the wrong place.

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That's actually really reassuring that they'll just redirect you rather than letting you waste time on a claim they can't process.

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wow I wish my experience calling edd was like that lol. I can never even get THROUGH let alone have a helpful conversation

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If getting through to California EDD is the blocker, seriously try Claimyr at claimyr.com - it's how I finally got connected to a rep after days of busy signals. The demo video at https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10 explains how it helps you get past the phone queue issues.

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also worth noting that california has reciprocal agreements with some neighboring states for things like income tax but unemployment insurance doesn't work the same way as income tax reciprocity. so don't assume that because you pay california income tax as a resident that your unemployment automatically goes through california edd. they're completely separate systems

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Really important clarification. State income tax residency and unemployment insurance eligibility are governed by completely different rules. You can owe California income taxes on wages earned elsewhere while still having your unemployment claim belong to another state entirely.

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This actually confused me initially because I do file California income taxes as a resident even though I earned wages in Nevada. Good to know those are unrelated for UI purposes.

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For those of us working remotely for California companies - I finally got clarification on my situation from an EDD rep. My employer is California-based but since I work from home in another state, they actually set up payroll in my home state and that's where my unemployment would be filed. So even though my employer is California, my wages were reported to my home state. W2 box 15 confirmed it - shows my home state employer ID, not a California EDD number. Just wanted to share in case it helps anyone.

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Thanks for sharing this - it's exactly the kind of real-world example that helps clarify the rule. The W2 box 15 state employer ID is the smoking gun every time.

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so basically step 1 for everyone is just look at your w2 box 15 before doing anything else, got it

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I feel like this is one of those things where people overthink it. Just call wherever you think applies, they'll tell you if you're wrong. The worst that happens is a small delay. I've filed twice in my life and both times the process was pretty straightforward once I got someone on the phone.

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easy to say but getting SOMEONE ON THE PHONE is the entire problem. I spent 6 hours one day just redialing california edd and never got through

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fair point I got lucky I guess, both times I called early morning and got through within like 20 mins

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Early morning and Tuesday/Wednesday seem to be the best call times based on everything I've read. Avoid Mondays and the day after any holiday like the plague.

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One more thing I haven't seen mentioned - if you file with the wrong state and they deny you, make absolutely sure you appeal or refile quickly. Unemployment benefits have strict filing deadlines and if you lose weeks while sorting out a wrong-state filing situation, you may not be able to go back and claim those weeks retroactively in some circumstances. Time is money with these claims.

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This is genuinely important and a little scary. So I should try to resolve the which-state question ASAP and not just wait and see what happens.

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Exactly. File with your best assessment of the right state ASAP based on the payroll tax information, and if it turns out to be wrong you can usually backdate when you eventually file with the correct state - but acting fast minimizes risk.

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this whole thread has been so helpful. I've learned more here in 20 minutes than from an hour of googling

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Something I want to add for Californians specifically - if you ultimately determine you need to file in another state, California EDD has no role in that process at all. You'd go directly to that other state's unemployment agency website and file there. California EDD can't forward your claim or do anything administrative on your behalf with another state. The only exception is the combined wage claim scenario mentioned earlier which involves both states communicating with each other, but you initiate that through whichever state you choose to file with.

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Clear and helpful, thank you. So my path is: confirm with HR which state got the payroll taxes, go to that state's unemployment site, file there, done.

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That's the correct sequence. Clean and simple once you have confirmation from HR or your W2.

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went through this last year. live in socal, worked in arizona. filed with arizona unemployment, no problems. just wanted to add my experience to confirm what others are saying here. the only annoying part was that arizona's online filing system is way less sophisticated than california edd's UI Online portal lol. but benefits came through fine.

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Ha, good to know I might be dealing with a less user-friendly interface. But if the money comes through I can't complain too much.

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yeah honestly just be patient with it. some state systems are clunky but they all get the job done eventually

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I know this thread has been really helpful but I want to flag something: even if you file in the correct state, if you LIVE in California you still have California residency which might affect certain requirements. Like job search activities - California may have different standards than Nevada or wherever you're filing. Make sure you understand the job search and reporting requirements of whichever state's system you're filing with, not California EDD's requirements.

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Good catch. Each state has its own weekly certification requirements, job search activity minimums, and reporting obligations. If you file in Nevada, you follow Nevada's rules even if you're searching for work from your California home.

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Didn't even think about this aspect. Good to know I need to understand Nevada's requirements specifically rather than assuming they match what California EDD expects.

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Nevada requires 3 job search activities per week last I checked, while California EDD requires a minimum of 3 as well for most claimants but the documentation requirements can differ. Definitely read the state-specific instructions carefully.

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For anyone still confused and needing to talk to a human being about their specific situation - getting through to California EDD or any state unemployment office can be brutal. A few people mentioned Claimyr earlier in this thread and I'll second it. Used claimyr.com myself when I was trying to sort out a multi-state wage issue and the difference was night and day compared to redialing for hours. They have a demo at https://youtu.be/JmuwXR7HA10. Your situation might be straightforward once you get a rep on the phone who can look at your actual claim details.

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okay I'm definitely trying this. been locked out of getting any help for weeks now

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Thanks everyone in this thread - I feel like I have a really clear picture now. Going to contact HR today about the payroll tax state, and if I need to make any calls I'll check out that Claimyr service. Really appreciate everyone who took the time to respond.

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Good luck OP. Sounds like you've got a solid plan. Come back and let us know how it goes - this thread will probably help other people in the same situation.

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