Pennsylvania Unemployment Calculator 2026
Pennsylvania pays $68–$605 per week for up to 26 weeks in 2026. Your weekly benefit amount is a statutory benefit table (PA DLI UC Benefit Guide 'Financial Charts' (Part A Highest Quarterly Wage -> Part B Rate of Compensation), transcribed from the eight chart sections published on pa.gov) applied to your highest-earning quarter. Enter your quarterly wages below to estimate it — the math runs entirely in your browser, from figures verified against Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, Office of Unemployment Compensation.
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: 'The base year is generally the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters prior to the AB [Application for Benefits] date' (PA DLI Benefit Guide). The AB date is 'the date of the Sunday that begins the week in which you apply for benefits'. (an alternate base period is available if you don’t qualify with the standard one).
File your claim with Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, Office of Unemployment Compensation — only the agency determines your actual benefit.
Verified 2026-07-31 against PA Department of Labor & Industry, UC Benefit Guide - Eligibility Information (current UC Financial Charts: Table Specified for the Determination of Rate and Amount of Benefits) + Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Law (pa.gov uc_law.pdf) Sections 4(m.3), 401 and 404 (effective 2026-01-01)
Estimate only — not legal, tax, or financial advice. Only Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, Office of Unemployment Compensation can determine your actual amounts.
Official source: Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, Office of Unemployment Compensation — file a claim ↗
Working part-time? Partial benefits
Pennsylvania disregards part of what you earn in a week before reducing your benefit. Estimate what a part-time week leaves you with:
- Disregard: greater of $6.00 or 0.3 × WBA = $120.00
- Countable earnings: $150.00 − $120.00 = $30.00
- Payable: WBA $400.00 − $30.00 = $370.00
How dependants change the Pennsylvania benefit
Pennsylvania UC Law dependency allowance: 'In addition to the weekly benefit rate as hereinbefore set out, each eligible employe shall be paid for each week that he is entitled to benefits, the sum of five dollars ($5) for a dependent spouse or a dependent child if such eligible employe has no spouse, plus three dollars ($3) for one other dependent child, but in no event shall such additional allowance exceed eight dollars ($8) for any one week or the total number of such allowance payments exceed the claimant's maximum weeks of entitlement.' The Notice of Financial Determination establishes 'your allowance for dependents' (PA DLI Benefit Guide).
How long benefits can last
Up to 26 weeks; total benefits are PA DLI Benefit Guide: 'If you have at least 18 credit weeks, your maximum benefit amount is the amount corresponding to the number of credit weeks during your base year, multiplied by your weekly benefit rate. However, your maximum benefit amount may not exceed 26 times your weekly benefit rate. You are not eligible to receive benefits if you have fewer than 18 credit weeks in the base year.' A credit week is 'any calendar week (Sunday through Saturday) within the base year in which an individual earned $116 or more'.
Who qualifies for benefits in Pennsylvania
PA DLI Benefit Guide: financial eligibility rests on 'your highest quarterly wages, total base-year wages and credit weeks during the base year'. Section 401(a)(2): 'not less than thirty-seven per centum (37%) of the employee's total base year wages have been paid in one or more quarters, other than the highest quarter in such employee's base year.' At least 18 credit weeks ($116 or more earned in a calendar week) are required, and base-year wages must equal or exceed the Part C 'Qualifying Wages' figure printed on the claimant's weekly-benefit-rate line.
Meeting the wage test is not the same as being approved: Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, Office of Unemployment Compensation also rules on the reason for the separation and on your availability for work each week. File with Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, Office of Unemployment Compensation ↗
Base period in Pennsylvania
'The base year is generally the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters prior to the AB [Application for Benefits] date' (PA DLI Benefit Guide). The AB date is 'the date of the Sunday that begins the week in which you apply for benefits'.. An alternate base period is available if you don’t qualify with the standard window. PA DLI Benefit Guide: 'Individuals who do not meet wage and credit week requirements due to a work-related injury, may request a redetermination using an alternate base year. This alternate base year consists of the four completed calendar quarters immediately preceding the date of the work-related injury.' The injury must be compensable under the Workers' Compensation Act and the claimant must file a timely appeal to request the redetermination.
See which quarters count for your filing date →Severance and your claim
UC Law 404(d)(1)(iii) deducts 'the amount of severance pay that is attributed to the week'. 404(d)(1.1): 'Severance pay means one or more payments made by an employer to an employe on account of separation from the service of the employer, regardless of whether the employer is legally bound by contract, statute or otherwise to make such payments. The term does not include payments for pension, retirement or accrued leave or payments of supplemental unemployment benefits.' The attributed amount is 'an amount not less than zero (0) determined by subtracting forty per centum (40%) of the average annual wage ... from the total amount of severance pay paid or payable to the claimant by the employer', attributed to the weeks immediately following separation at the claimant's regular full-time weekly wage.
Source: PA Department of Labor & Industry, UC Benefit Guide - Eligibility Information (current UC Financial Charts: Table Specified for the Determination of Rate and Amount of Benefits) + Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Law (pa.gov uc_law.pdf) Sections 4(m.3), 401 and 404 (verified 2026-07-31).
Pennsylvania unemployment: frequently asked questions
Pennsylvania pays between $68 and $605 per week in 2026. Your amount is a statutory benefit table (PA DLI UC Benefit Guide 'Financial Charts' (Part A Highest Quarterly Wage -> Part B Rate of Compensation), transcribed from the eight chart sections published on pa.gov) applied to your highest-earning quarter, and only Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry, Office of Unemployment Compensation can determine it officially. These figures were verified against the agency's own publication on 2026-07-31.
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