New York State Unemployment Calculator: Base Period and Weekly Amount

The New York State unemployment calculator at ux.labor.ny.gov/benefit-rate-calculator estimates your weekly unemployment benefit by applying the state’s formula to the gross wages you earned during a 12-month stretch called your base period.¹ As of October 6, 2025, the maximum weekly benefit is $869, up from $504, which had been the cap since 2019.² The number the tool returns is an estimate; your official rate comes from the Monetary Determination the Department of Labor issues after you file a claim.³

What You Need Before You Open the Calculator

The tool asks for a dollar figure for each of four calendar quarters. Pull your W-2s or final pay stubs and add up gross wages, meaning what you earned before taxes and deductions. Using take-home pay will understate your benefit.

Group the earnings into calendar quarters: January through March, April through June, July through September, and October through December. Have those four totals in front of you before you start typing.

Figuring Out Your Base Period

The calculator does not pick your base period for you. Under Section 520 of the Labor Law, the standard base period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before the week you file.⁴ File in April 2026, and the five most recently completed quarters run from January 2025 through March 2026, so your standard base period is January through December 2025. The most recent quarter drops out.

If the standard base period does not contain enough wages to qualify you, the state automatically checks an alternate base period: the four most recently completed quarters. In the same April 2026 example, that window is April 2025 through March 2026. The alternate picks up recent earnings and helps people who started a new job or returned to work not long ago.⁴

If you are not sure which window applies to you, run the calculator twice using both sets of quarters and compare the results.

How the Calculator Does the Math

Section 590 of the Labor Law sets out two formulas, and which one applies depends on how many quarters show wages.⁵

Wages in All Four Quarters

Take your single highest-earning quarter and divide it by 26. Round down to the nearest whole dollar. That is your weekly benefit. A high quarter of $13,000 produces $500 a week.

Wages in Only Two or Three Quarters

Average your two highest quarters, then divide that average by 26. One exception: if your high quarter is between $3,576 and $4,000, the state uses the straight high-quarter-divided-by-26 method instead.

The Low-Earnings Adjustment

When your highest quarter is $3,575 or less, the divisor drops from 26 to 25. A high quarter of $3,000 produces $120 a week under the divide-by-25 rule rather than $115.

There is also a $143 weekly floor for anyone whose high quarter exceeds $3,575. The formula will not drop the weekly amount below that.

Minimum Earnings to Qualify

If the calculator returns nothing, it is likely because the wages do not clear the eligibility thresholds. For claims filed in 2026, you must have:⁶

Earned at least $3,500 in your single highest-paid calendar quarter during the base period.
Worked and been paid in at least two calendar quarters.
Total base period wages equal to at least one and one-half times your high quarter.

The 1.5x rule has a cap. The high quarter figure used in that calculation tops out at $19,118, so if your best quarter was $25,000, you only need remaining base period wages of $9,559 to satisfy the test.⁶ The high quarter threshold tracks a formula in Section 527 that ties the minimum to 221 times the state minimum wage, rounded down.⁷

Maximum and Minimum Weekly Amounts

No matter how much you earned, your weekly check cannot exceed the current maximum of $869. The state ties that cap to half of the statewide average weekly wage for covered employment, so it will continue to adjust as wages rise.² On the low end, the statutory minimum is $100 per week for any eligible claimant, with the $143 floor applying once high quarter wages exceed $3,575.⁵ All figures are gross, before any tax withholding.

Why Your Actual Check May Be Smaller

The calculator gives you the full weekly rate the formula produces. Several things can reduce what actually lands in your account.

Part-Time Hours

New York uses an hours-based reduction. You stay eligible for partial benefits as long as you work 30 hours or fewer in a week and earn less than the maximum weekly benefit in gross pay. Exceed either, and you get nothing for that week.⁸ The reductions, based on total hours rounded up:

0 to 10 hours: no reduction.
11 to 16 hours: 25% reduction.
17 to 21 hours: 50% reduction.
22 to 30 hours: 75% reduction.
31 or more hours: no benefit that week.

You can report a maximum of 10 hours per calendar day, so a 14-hour shift counts as 10. The NYSDOL has a separate hours calculator for figuring out weekly reporting during certification.¹

Severance Pay

You can collect benefits alongside severance if the weekly equivalent is at or below the maximum benefit rate, or if the first payment arrived more than 30 days after your last day of work. If the weekly equivalent exceeds the maximum and the first payment came within 30 days of your last day, you are ineligible until the severance period runs out. Report severance to the Telephone Claims Center right away; failing to do so can trigger an overpayment.⁹

Pension From a Base Period Employer

A pension from a base period employer can reduce your weekly benefit by 100% of its weekly equivalent. If you were the sole contributor, with no employer match, there is no reduction. A 401(k) counts as a pension when the employer contributed, and that applies to both periodic withdrawals and lump sums. Rolling the account into a qualified IRA avoids the reduction entirely.⁹

Taxes

Unemployment benefits are taxable at both the federal and New York State levels.¹⁰ You can request a flat 10% federal withholding from each payment to avoid a bill at tax time.¹¹ The calculator shows gross amounts, not what you will see after withholding.

If the Official Determination Doesn’t Match

When your Monetary Determination arrives, compare it against your estimate. If the wages look wrong or an employer is missing, you can request a reconsideration by submitting proof of employment and wages, such as pay stubs, by fax, mail, or secure message through your account at labor.ny.gov.¹²

If you want the Department to use the alternate base period, the deadline is tight. The request must reach the DOL within 10 days of the date on your Monetary Determination. If reconsideration produces a higher weekly rate, back payments for weeks already paid at the lower rate should arrive within three weeks of the revised determination. If they do not, contact the DOL at 888-209-6851 or through the online messaging system.¹²

1
New York State Department of Labor. Unemployment Insurance Calculators
2
New York State Department of Labor. What is the Maximum Benefit Rate
3
New York State Department of Labor. Estimate Weekly Unemployment Insurance Benefits
4
New York State Senate. New York Labor Law LAB 520 – Base Period
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New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 590 – Rights to Benefits
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New York State Department of Labor. Before You File a Claim for Unemployment FAQs
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New York State Senate. New York Labor Law LAB 527 – Valid Original Claim
8
New York State Department of Labor. Partial Unemployment Eligibility
9
New York State Department of Labor. Dismissal/Severance Pay and Pensions Frequently Asked Questions
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New York State Department of Labor. Unemployment Insurance Assistance
11
U.S. Department of Labor. Withholding Tax Information on UI Benefit Payments
12
New York State Department of Labor. Request for Reconsideration