How much does unemployment insurance pay in Washington - need to know weekly benefit amounts

Washington ESD calculates your weekly benefit amount using your highest earning quarter from your base year. They take that amount, divide by 26, then you get about 50% of that as your weekly benefit. There's also a minimum of $295/week and maximum of $999/week as of 2025. So if your highest quarter was around $12,000 you'd probably get somewhere in the $460-480 range per week.

The amount varies a lot depending on what you made. I was making $25/hour full time and got $612/week. My friend who worked part time retail got around $350/week. Washington ESD has a calculator on their website but it's not always accurate.

If you're having trouble getting through to Washington ESD to check your exact benefit amount, I used Claimyr.com recently and it was a game changer. They have this service where they'll call Washington ESD for you and get you connected to an actual agent. Way better than sitting on hold for hours. There's a video demo at https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ that shows how it works.

Don't forget you also have to pay taxes on unemployment benefits! Washington state doesn't tax them but federal does. I learned that the hard way when I got a big tax bill the next year. You can have them withhold 10% federal taxes or pay quarterly estimated taxes.

The maximum weekly benefit amount in Washington is $999 but you'd have to have been making serious money to qualify for that much. Most people I know get between $300-600 per week depending on their previous wages.

Just remember you can only collect benefits for 26 weeks maximum in Washington, so even if you're getting $500/week that's only $13,000 total over the whole year. It's really meant to be temporary help while you find new work.

You have to do at least 3 job search activities per week and keep a log of them. This includes applying for jobs, networking, attending job fairs, etc. Washington ESD is pretty strict about this and will audit your records randomly.

I've been on unemployment twice and the benefit calculation seems to change every few years. Last time I was on it in 2022 I got $485/week, this time with similar wages I'm getting $520/week. Not sure if they adjusted the formula or if my wages were just distributed differently.

Pro tip: if your benefit amount seems too low, double check that Washington ESD has all your employers from your base period. Sometimes wages don't get reported properly and you can request a wage investigation to add missing earnings.

Does anyone know if the weekly benefit amount includes the extra federal unemployment money? I keep seeing different numbers and I'm confused about what's regular Washington state benefits vs federal add-ons.

For what it's worth, even though unemployment doesn't replace your full wages, it's still way better than nothing. I was able to cover most of my basic expenses while job hunting and it gave me time to find something decent instead of taking the first minimum wage job I could find.

One thing to watch out for - if you do any part time work while collecting benefits, they'll reduce your weekly payment dollar for dollar after you earn more than about $150. So sometimes it's not worth it to take small gig jobs.

The whole benefit calculation thing gave me such a headache when I first filed. Took me three tries calling Washington ESD to finally understand how they got my number. The agent I eventually talked to through that Claimyr service was super helpful in breaking it down step by step.

Just want to add that your benefit amount gets calculated automatically once you file your initial claim. You don't have to do the math yourself - Washington ESD will send you a monetary determination letter with your weekly benefit amount and how long you can collect.

IMPORTANT: Make sure you file your claim as soon as possible after becoming unemployed. In Washington you can't get benefits for weeks before you actually filed, even if you were eligible. Don't wait thinking you might find a job quickly.