Illinois Unemployment Calculator (2026)
In 2026, Illinois pays $51 to $628 per week in unemployment benefits — and up to $859 if you have dependents. Everyone who qualifies gets a full 26 weeks, which makes Illinois one of the few states with uniform duration.
How Illinois calculates it
Illinois looks at your two highest-earning quarters in your base period and pays 47% of your average weekly wage from those quarters. For example, if you earned $13,000 in each of your two best quarters, that's $26,000 over 26 weeks — an average weekly wage of $1,000 — so your benefit would be about $470 per week.
For 2026, the weekly benefit runs from a minimum of $51 to a maximum of $628 without dependents. With a dependent allowance, the minimum rises to $77 and the maximum to $859. Your total payout is the lesser of 26 times your weekly benefit (plus any dependent allowance) or your base period wages — at the top rate that's $16,328 without dependents, or up to $22,334 with the maximum allowance.
Your base period is a roughly one-year window of past wages that the state uses to set your benefit. Within the min and max, higher earnings in your two best quarters mean a bigger weekly check.
Do you qualify in Illinois?
To qualify on wages, you need at least $1,600 in total base period wages, with at least $440 of that earned outside your highest-earning quarter. That second rule just means your income can't all come from one short burst of work.
You also need to meet the usual non-monetary rules: you lost your job through no fault of your own (a layoff counts), you're able to work, you're available for work, and you're actively looking for a job each week you claim.
Maximum total benefit: Lesser of 26 x WBA (plus DA) or BP wages.