How much unemployment will I get if I make $1,000 a week Washington ESD calculation

Washington ESD calculates your weekly benefit amount using your highest earning quarter from your base period (first 4 of the last 5 completed quarters). With $1000/week that's about $52k annually. Your maximum weekly benefit would likely be around $790-830 depending on your exact base period wages. You can check your account on eServices once you file.

i make about the same and got $812 per week when i was laid off last year. took forever to get through to someone at washington esd to verify though, their phone lines are always busy

The maximum weekly benefit amount in Washington for 2025 is $999, but you need to earn enough in your base period to qualify for that max. With $1000/week you should be close to the maximum assuming you worked the full base period.

dont count on getting that much right away though. my claim went into adjudication for 6 weeks even though it was a straightforward layoff. washington esd is slow as hell

You can estimate it roughly as 60% of your average weekly wage, but Washington ESD uses a specific formula. Your actual amount depends on wages in all quarters of your base period, not just your current weekly pay.

Check your Social Security statement or ask HR for your quarterly wage history. That's what Washington ESD will use to calculate your benefits, not your current pay rate.

just remember you have to do weekly claims and job searches to keep getting paid. dont slack on the job search requirements or they'll cut you off

when i finally got through to washington esd they were actually really helpful explaining the benefit calculation. the hard part is just reaching them in the first place

With tech layoffs happening everywhere you might want to file right away when it happens. Don't wait thinking you'll find something quickly - benefits are backdated to when you file, not when you became unemployed.

Also remember unemployment is taxable income. You can have taxes withheld or pay quarterly estimated taxes to avoid a big bill next year.

the washington esd website has a benefit calculator but its not very user friendly. your hr department might have better estimates if they've dealt with layoffs before

been on unemployment twice and both times got about 75% of what the initial estimate was. not sure why but the actual amount was always lower than expected

If you do get laid off, apply online through eServices first thing Monday morning. The system is usually more stable early in the week.

with your income level you'll probably get close to the max benefit. just be prepared for the process to take longer than you expect, especially if they need to verify anything about your employment

One more tip - if you do need to contact Washington ESD for any reason and can't get through their regular lines, services like Claimyr can be a lifesaver. I was stuck in adjudication limbo until I could actually talk to someone who resolved it in 5 minutes.

good luck with everything! layoffs suck but washington unemployment benefits are pretty decent compared to other states. you should be fine financially while job hunting

make sure you understand the job search requirements before you start collecting. they've gotten stricter about enforcement and you don't want your benefits stopped for not doing enough searches

Bottom line - with $1000/week gross you're looking at probably $750-850 per week in unemployment benefits assuming you have sufficient base period wages. The exact amount depends on your wage history over the past 15 months.

Just to add another perspective - I was laid off from a similar tech role making $950/week and ended up getting $780/week in benefits. The key thing that helped me was having all my employment documentation ready when I filed (last pay stub, layoff letter, etc). Also definitely recommend setting up direct deposit right away since paper checks can take forever to arrive. The whole process was smoother than I expected once I got through the initial application.