Texas unemployment pays between $75 and $605 per week, and where you land in that range depends almost entirely on one number: your gross wages from the highest-earning quarter of your base period. The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) divides that high-quarter figure by 25 to set your weekly benefit amount. So the answer to how much unemployment is in Texas per week is a simple calculation you can run yourself before you ever file.1Texas Workforce Commission. Eligibility and Benefit Amounts
The Rule of 25: How to Estimate Your Weekly Check
Find your gross wages from your highest-earning calendar quarter in the past year or so. Divide by 25. Round to the nearest dollar. That is your weekly benefit amount (WBA), subject to the state’s floor and ceiling.1Texas Workforce Commission. Eligibility and Benefit Amounts
- High quarter of $5,000: $5,000 ÷ 25 = $200 per week
- High quarter of $10,000: $10,000 ÷ 25 = $400 per week
- High quarter of $18,000: the math gives $720, but you receive the $605 maximum
If the formula produces less than $75, you may not qualify at all, since falling below the minimum can indicate insufficient earnings history.
Which Wages the TWC Counts
The high quarter has to come from your base period, which is a specific 12-month window. The standard base period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before the quarter in which you file.2Cornell Law School. 40 Texas Administrative Code 815.1 – Definitions File in April 2026, for instance, and your base period runs from January 2025 through December 2025. Wages you earned in the most recent quarter or two before filing typically do not count.
Pull out your W-2s or final pay stubs for that window and identify the single quarter with the largest gross earnings. That number, not your annual salary, drives your weekly amount.
If you lost significant work time in one of those quarters because of a documented illness, injury, disability, or pregnancy that began within 24 months of your claim start date, you may qualify for an alternate base period. Call the TWC at 800-939-6631 to ask.3Texas Workforce Commission. Unemployment Benefits Handbook
The Minimum and Maximum, and When They Change
As of October 5, 2025, the weekly range is $75 to $605.1Texas Workforce Commission. Eligibility and Benefit Amounts Texas law requires the TWC to recalculate both figures each October based on the average weekly wage of workers statewide, so the ceiling and floor drift over time.4State of Texas. Texas Code 207.002 – Benefits for Total Unemployment No matter how high your prior salary was, your weekly benefit cannot exceed the maximum in effect when you file.
What Can Reduce Your Weekly Payment
Your calculated weekly benefit is the starting point. Several things can shrink the check you actually receive.
Part-Time or Side Earnings
You can earn up to 25 percent of your WBA in a week without any reduction. Anything above that gets subtracted dollar for dollar. Earn more than your WBA plus 25 percent and you get nothing for that week.5Texas Workforce Commission. Report Your Work and Earnings
Say your WBA is $400. Earn up to $100 that week and your check stays at $400. Earn $250 and the TWC subtracts your earnings from $500 (your $400 WBA plus the $100 cushion), paying you $250. Earn more than $500 and you receive no benefits that week. You must report gross earnings on your payment request, not net.
Pensions and Severance
Pension or retirement payments from a base-period employer are converted to a weekly figure and deducted from your WBA. Pensions tied to employers outside your base period are not deducted. Social Security retirement and Railroad Retirement payments are not deducted either.6Texas Workforce Commission. How Money from Other Sources Can Affect Your Benefits
Severance pay and wages paid in lieu of layoff notice can delay or reduce benefits. Report any such payments when you file. The TWC issues a written decision explaining the effect.
Child Support
If a state child support enforcement agency is collecting on an obligation you owe, the TWC is required to deduct those amounts from your unemployment payments. Disclose any child support obligations at the time you file.
Federal Tax Withholding
Unemployment benefits are taxable federal income. You can ask the TWC to withhold 10 percent of each payment for federal taxes, which lowers your weekly deposit but reduces what you owe at tax time.7Texas Workforce Commission. Federal Income Taxes Withholding is voluntary. Texas has no state income tax, so nothing is withheld at the state level.8Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 418, Unemployment Compensation
The One-Week Waiting Period
Your first eligible week of unemployment is unpaid. Benefits begin with the second eligible week. If you later return to full-time work and become unemployed again within the same benefit year after collecting at least twice your WBA, you may be paid for that waiting week.
How Many Weeks the Money Lasts
Alongside the weekly amount, the TWC sets a maximum benefit amount (MBA), which is the total pool available to you during your benefit year. The MBA is the lesser of 26 times your WBA or 27 percent of your total base-period wages.1Texas Workforce Commission. Eligibility and Benefit Amounts Each weekly payment draws from that pool.
Your benefit year runs 52 weeks from the Sunday of the week you applied. After that, you would need to file a new claim with new qualifying wages to keep receiving payments. During periods of unusually high statewide unemployment, a federal-state Extended Benefits program can add weeks of payments, but the economic triggers for that program are not active under normal conditions.
If Your Weekly Amount Looks Wrong
The TWC sends a determination notice showing the wages it credited and the WBA it calculated. If the number is lower than your own math suggests, or wages from an employer are missing, you have 14 calendar days from the mailing date to file a written appeal.9Texas Workforce Commission. File an Unemployment Appeal An Appeal Tribunal hearing officer will review the facts and issue a new decision. Miss the 14-day deadline and you generally lose the right to challenge the calculation, so review the notice as soon as it arrives and file promptly if something looks off.