Wisconsin Unemployment Calculator (2026)
In 2026, Wisconsin pays unemployment benefits between $54 and $370 per week. Your weekly amount is 4% of your highest-earning quarter, and benefits last 14 to 26 weeks. The $370 cap is modest, so higher earners should expect a noticeable income gap.
How Wisconsin calculates it
Wisconsin finds your highest-earning quarter in the base period and pays you 4% of those wages each week. For example, if your best quarter was $8,000, your weekly benefit is $320. Anyone with roughly $9,250 or more in their best quarter hits the $370 maximum.
The weekly benefit ranges from $54 to $370. Because the cap is low, most full-time workers max out — a $60,000-a-year earner and a $120,000-a-year earner get the same $370 check.
Your total payout is the lesser of 40% of your base period wages or 26 times your weekly benefit. That works out to 14 to 26 weeks of payments, with steady year-round earners qualifying for the full 26 weeks.
Do you qualify in Wisconsin?
To qualify money-wise, your total base period wages must be at least 35 times your weekly benefit amount, your highest quarter must exceed $1,350, and you need wages outside your high quarter of at least 4 times your weekly benefit. In short, you need meaningful earnings in more than one quarter.
The usual non-wage conditions also apply: you lost your job through no fault of your own, and you're able to work, available for work, and actively looking for work each week you claim.
Maximum total benefit: Lesser of 40% BPW or 26 x WBA.