How do you calculate unemployment benefits in Washington - confused about my weekly benefit amount

Washington ESD uses your highest quarter earnings from your base period to calculate benefits. They take your highest quarter, divide by 26, then multiply by 0.0385 to get your weekly benefit amount. The base period is usually the first 4 of the last 5 completed quarters before you filed.

The calculation is actually simpler than people make it sound. Washington ESD takes your two highest quarters from the base period, adds them together, then divides by 52. That's your weekly benefit amount up to the maximum. Your $437 makes sense if your two highest quarters totaled around $22,724.

If you're having trouble getting through to Washington ESD to verify your calculation, I had success using Claimyr (claimyr.com) to get connected to an agent. They have a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works. Sometimes you need to talk to someone directly about your specific earnings history.

OMG this is so confusing!! I got $398 weekly but I made way more than my friend who gets $445. How is that even possible? I'm so stressed about whether they calculated mine wrong and I should be getting more money.

The Washington ESD benefit calculator is such garbage. I've been dealing with this system for months and they can't even explain their own formulas properly. Half the time the customer service reps give different answers about the same calculation.

same here, got $421 and have no clue how they got that number lol

I had to fight with Washington ESD for weeks because they initially calculated my benefits wrong. They were using the wrong base period because of when I filed. Make sure you check that your base period includes your highest earning quarters.

The maximum weekly benefit in Washington is $999 for 2025, but most people don't get close to that. You need to have earned at least $51,948 in your two highest quarters to max out. Your $437 is actually pretty decent compared to what a lot of people get.

Pro tip: if you think your calculation is wrong, don't just guess - request a redetermination from Washington ESD. I did this last year and they found an error that increased my weekly benefit by $83. Sometimes their system doesn't capture all your earnings correctly.

Another thing to check - if you worked in multiple states during your base period, Washington might not have all your earnings. I had to provide out-of-state wage information to get the correct calculation.

I used Claimyr last month when I had questions about my benefit calculation and the agent was really helpful in explaining exactly how they calculated my amount. Much better than trying to figure it out from the confusing website.

For anyone still confused, here's the simple version: Washington ESD adds your two highest quarters from your base period, divides by 52, and that's your weekly benefit (up to $999 max). If you earned $20,000 and $18,000 in your two highest quarters, that's $38,000 ÷ 52 = $730 weekly.

Remember that your total benefit amount (not weekly) is also calculated based on your base period earnings. In Washington, you can receive up to 26 times your weekly benefit amount, but only if you have enough total earnings to qualify for that many weeks.

One more thing - if you worked seasonal or had irregular hours, your calculation might look weird even if it's correct. I worked construction with lots of overtime in summer and almost nothing in winter, so my base period was all over the place.

If you're still having trouble understanding your specific calculation, try calling early morning around 7am when the phone lines open. I got through in about 20 minutes that way, versus never getting through during busy afternoon hours.

Just want to add that if you're getting partial unemployment because you're working reduced hours, the calculation gets more complicated. They use a different formula that accounts for your part-time earnings each week.

Thanks everyone for all the explanations! I think I understand now that my $437 is probably correct based on the two highest quarters formula. I'll still try to get through to Washington ESD to confirm, but at least I'm not panicking about it being wrong anymore.