How much is unemployment benefits in Washington state weekly?
I'm trying to figure out exactly how much unemployment benefits I can expect to receive in Washington. I know it depends on your past wages but I'm having trouble understanding the calculations on the Washington ESD website. My last job paid me $4,800 per month before taxes. Can anyone break down how they calculate your weekly benefit amount? Also wondering if there's a maximum weekly benefit cap in Washington?
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Sofia Morales
Washington ESD uses your highest earning quarter from your base year to calculate benefits. The weekly benefit amount is roughly 3.85% of your highest quarter earnings, but there's a minimum of $295 and maximum of $999 per week as of 2025. With your salary of $4,800/month, you'd likely qualify for close to the maximum.
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Dylan Mitchell
•Thanks! So they look at quarters not just my most recent pay? That's confusing but helpful to know.
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Dmitry Popov
•Yeah the base year calculation trips up a lot of people. They use the first four of the last five completed quarters before you file your claim.
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Ava Garcia
I just went through this process last month and it was a nightmare trying to get through to Washington ESD to verify my benefit amount. The automated system kept giving me different numbers than what showed up in my account. Spent literally hours on hold trying to reach someone who could explain the calculation properly.
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StarSailor}
•ugh same here, the phone system is impossible
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Miguel Silva
•Have you tried using Claimyr? I found out about it recently and it actually got me through to a Washington ESD agent in like 20 minutes. They have a website at claimyr.com and there's even a demo video showing how it works: https://youtu.be/7DieNd3C7zQ. Saved me so much frustration compared to calling the regular number.
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Ava Garcia
•Never heard of that but I'm desperate at this point. Does it actually work or is it some kind of scam?
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Dmitry Popov
The calculation can be confusing but here's the breakdown: Washington ESD takes your two highest earning quarters from your base year, adds them together, then divides by 52 to get your weekly benefit amount. But there are minimums and maximums that apply. The $999 maximum mentioned above is correct for 2025.
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Dylan Mitchell
•Wait, I thought it was based on your highest single quarter, not two quarters added together?
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Dmitry Popov
•You're right to be confused - I misspoke. It's actually your highest single quarter divided by 26 weeks, then multiplied by 0.0385. My mistake!
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Sofia Morales
•Yeah the formula is: (highest quarter wages ÷ 26) × 0.0385 = weekly benefit amount, subject to min/max limits
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Zainab Ismail
I'm getting $847 per week right now and my highest quarter was around $22,000. The math seems to work out pretty close to what everyone's saying here.
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Dylan Mitchell
•That's really helpful to have a real example. Gives me a better idea of what to expect.
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Connor O'Neill
•how long did it take for your claim to get approved? mine's been in adjudication for 2 weeks
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Zainab Ismail
•Mine took about 3 weeks total. Hang in there, it does eventually go through.
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StarSailor}
just a heads up the amounts everyone is talking about are before taxes. they do take out federal taxes unless you opt out, so your actual deposit will be less
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Dylan Mitchell
•Good point, I forgot about taxes. Do they take out state taxes too in Washington?
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StarSailor}
•no state income tax in washington so just federal if you choose to have it withheld
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Miguel Silva
Back to the Claimyr thing - I was skeptical too but it really does work. I needed to talk to someone about my benefit calculation because the online system was showing conflicting information. Used their service and got connected to an actual Washington ESD representative who walked me through exactly how my benefits were calculated. Way better than spending all day trying to call the regular number.
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Yara Nassar
•How much does it cost though? I'm already broke waiting for my benefits to start.
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Miguel Silva
•I'd rather not get into specific costs but it was definitely worth it for me given how much time and stress it saved. Plus I got answers I couldn't get anywhere else.
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Ava Garcia
•I might try this. Been calling Washington ESD for weeks with no luck.
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Keisha Robinson
Does anyone know if the benefit amount changes if you work part-time while collecting? I might have a chance to pick up some freelance work but don't want to mess up my claim.
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Sofia Morales
•Yes, if you earn more than 25% of your weekly benefit amount, they'll reduce your benefits dollar for dollar after that threshold. So if your weekly benefit is $600, you can earn up to $150 without any reduction.
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Keisha Robinson
•Thanks! That's actually more generous than I expected.
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Dmitry Popov
•Just make sure to report all earnings when you file your weekly claim. Washington ESD is pretty strict about unreported income.
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GalaxyGuardian
The whole system is so complicated! I've been collecting for 8 weeks now and I still don't fully understand how they calculate everything. My benefits seem to vary slightly from week to week even though I'm not working.
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Sofia Morales
•Small variations can happen due to rounding or if there are any adjustments to your claim. As long as it's not a big difference, it's probably normal.
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GalaxyGuardian
•Good to know it's not just me. The amounts are only off by a few dollars so I guess that's normal.
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Connor O'Neill
I'm still waiting for my claim to be approved but this thread is super helpful for understanding what to expect. One question - do you get back pay for the weeks while your claim was being processed?
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Dmitry Popov
•Yes, if your claim is approved you'll get retroactive payments back to when you first filed, as long as you continued filing your weekly claims during the waiting period.
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Connor O'Neill
•Okay good, I've been filing weekly even though nothing's been approved yet.
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Zainab Ismail
•That's the right thing to do. I got a nice chunk of back pay when mine finally went through.
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Paolo Ricci
For anyone still having trouble getting through to Washington ESD about their benefit calculations, I also used Claimyr recently and it worked great. I was able to get clarification on why my benefit amount was lower than I expected - turns out I had misunderstood which quarters counted in my base year.
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Dylan Mitchell
•I think I'm going to try Claimyr too. This thread has been helpful but I still have questions specific to my situation.
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Paolo Ricci
•Yeah it's definitely worth it if you have specific questions. The representative I talked to was really knowledgeable about the benefit calculation process.
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Amina Toure
Just want to add that if you have multiple jobs or irregular income, the calculation can get more complicated. Washington ESD looks at all your covered employment during the base year, not just your most recent job.
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Dylan Mitchell
•I did have a part-time job earlier in the year along with my main job. Will that help or hurt my benefit amount?
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Amina Toure
•It should help since it adds to your total wages in the base year. Higher total wages generally mean higher benefits, up to the maximum.
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Oliver Zimmermann
been reading this thread and it's way more helpful than the washington esd website. their explanations are so confusing with all the legal language
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Sofia Morales
•Agreed, the official information is hard to parse. That's why forums like this are so valuable for getting real-world explanations.
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Natasha Volkova
•Yeah I learn more from other people's experiences than from the official documentation.
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Javier Torres
One thing to keep in mind is that Washington unemployment benefits are taxable income federally. I didn't realize this my first time collecting and got a surprise tax bill the following year.
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Dylan Mitchell
•Good reminder about taxes. I should probably set aside some money or have them withhold taxes from my payments.
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Javier Torres
•Yeah definitely consider having taxes withheld, especially if you're getting close to the maximum benefit amount.
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Emma Davis
How often do they update the minimum and maximum benefit amounts? I collected unemployment a few years ago and the numbers seem higher now.
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Dmitry Popov
•The benefit amounts are typically adjusted annually based on average wages in the state. They usually announce changes in the fall for the following year.
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Emma Davis
•Makes sense. Good to know they keep up with inflation somewhat.
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CosmicCaptain
This thread convinced me to finally apply for benefits. I've been putting it off because I thought the amount would be too small to bother with, but sounds like it might be worth it after all.
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Sofia Morales
•Definitely worth applying if you're eligible. Even if the amount seems small, it can make a big difference while you're job searching.
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Dylan Mitchell
•Yeah don't leave money on the table. The application process isn't too bad either.
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Malik Johnson
Thanks everyone for all the detailed explanations. This has been way more helpful than trying to decipher the Washington ESD website on my own. I feel like I actually understand how the system works now.
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Dmitry Popov
•Happy to help! These benefit calculations can be really confusing at first.
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Dylan Mitchell
•Agreed, this thread has been amazing. I learned so much more than I expected when I first posted.
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