South Carolina Unemployment Calculator (2026)
South Carolina pays between $42 and $350 per week in unemployment benefits in 2026. Benefits last 13 to 20 weeks, depending on your wages and the caps in state law. Your weekly amount is half of your average weekly wage from your best-earning quarter.
How South Carolina calculates it
South Carolina looks at your highest-earning quarter in your base period and pays 50% of your average weekly wage from that quarter. That works out to your high-quarter wages divided by 26. For example, if your best quarter was $7,800, your weekly benefit would be about $300.
The result is capped between $42 and $350 per week in 2026. Your total payout is limited to the lesser of one-third of your base period wages or 20 times your weekly benefit — that's why duration runs from about 13 to 20 weeks. If your earnings were concentrated in one quarter, the one-third cap can shorten your claim.
Your base period is generally the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you file. Higher wages in your best quarter mean a bigger weekly check, up to the $350 cap.
Do you qualify in South Carolina?
To qualify on wages in South Carolina, you need at least $4,455 in total base period wages, at least $1,092 in your highest quarter, and total base period wages of at least 1.5 times your highest quarter.
You also have to meet the non-wage rules: you lost your job through no fault of your own (a layoff qualifies; quitting without good cause or a misconduct firing usually doesn't), and you're able to work, available for work, and actively looking. The SC Department of Employment and Workforce decides each claim.
Maximum total benefit: Lesser of 1/3 BPW or 20 x WBA.