District of Columbia Unemployment Calculator 2026
District of Columbia pays $50–$444 per week for up to 26 weeks in 2026. Your weekly benefit amount is 1/26 of your highest-earning base-period quarter. Enter your quarterly wages below to estimate it — the math runs entirely in your browser, from figures verified against DC Department of Employment Services (DOES).
Works offline — your inputs never leave this device. How that works
Enter your gross wages for each quarter of the base period — roughly the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you file. Your state's exact window is shown with the result.
Base period: 12-month period set by filing quarter - the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters (handbook chart: e.g. a claim whose first full week is in January-March uses the 12 months ending the previous September 30). (an alternate base period is available if you don’t qualify with the standard one).
File your claim with DC Department of Employment Services (DOES) — only the agency determines your actual benefit.
Verified 2026-07-31 against DOES 'FAQs for Claimants - January 2020 Maximum Weekly Benefit Amount Increase' + DOES 'Claimant's Rights and Responsibilities' handbook + DC Code 51-107 (effective 2026-01-01)
Estimate only — not legal, tax, or financial advice. Only DC Department of Employment Services (DOES) can determine your actual amounts.
Official source: DC Department of Employment Services (DOES) — file a claim ↗
Working part-time? Partial benefits
District of Columbia disregards part of what you earn in a week before reducing your benefit. Estimate what a part-time week leaves you with:
How long benefits can last
Up to 26 weeks; total benefits are DOES claimant handbook: 'Your maximum benefit amount is the lesser of twenty six (26) times your weekly benefit amount or one half of your total base period wages.'
Who qualifies for benefits in District of Columbia
Handbook wage requirements: 'at least $1,300 in wages in one quarter of the base period'; 'wages in at least two quarters'; 'at least $1,950 in wages for the entire base period'; and total base-period wages 'at least one and one half times the wages in your highest quarter, or be within $70 of that amount.'
- Minimum base-period wages
- $1,950
- Minimum high-quarter wages
- $1,300
Meeting the wage test is not the same as being approved: DC Department of Employment Services (DOES) also rules on the reason for the separation and on your availability for work each week. File with DC Department of Employment Services (DOES) ↗
Base period in District of Columbia
12-month period set by filing quarter - the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters (handbook chart: e.g. a claim whose first full week is in January-March uses the 12 months ending the previous September 30).. An alternate base period is available if you don’t qualify with the standard window. Handbook: the 'alternative base period' is 'the four (4) most recently completed calendar quarters prior to the date you first file your claim', used only when not monetarily eligible under the standard base period.
See which quarters count for your filing date →Severance and your claim
Handbook: 'If severance pay is made in installments, you will be ineligible for the period for which such payments are made. If severance pay is made in a lump sum but attributable to a specific period, you will be ineligible for that specific period. If severance pay is made in a lump sum and not attributable to any specific period, you will be ineligible for the week in which the lump sum payment is made.'
Source: DOES 'FAQs for Claimants - January 2020 Maximum Weekly Benefit Amount Increase' + DOES 'Claimant's Rights and Responsibilities' handbook + DC Code 51-107 (verified 2026-07-31).
District of Columbia unemployment: frequently asked questions
District of Columbia pays between $50 and $444 per week in 2026. Your amount is 1/26 of your highest-earning base-period quarter, and only DC Department of Employment Services (DOES) can determine it officially. These figures were verified against the agency's own publication on 2026-07-31.
More unemployment tools
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