Texas maximum weekly unemployment benefit.

Texas in the July 2026 DOL table

The DOL publishes this comparison each January and July and says it is informational rather than an official interpretation; the Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) is the agency that decides claims. The TWC benefit page could not be read on the build day (it refused automated requests), so every figure here is from the DOL table and should be confirmed against TWC when you file.

How the weekly amount is worked out

Texas uses a single quarter. Take the base period quarter in which you earned the most and divide by 25. Wages of $12,500 in that quarter give $500 a week; $15,125 gives $605, the ceiling; anything above that quarter total still pays $605. At the bottom, a high quarter under $1,875 would compute to less than $75 and is raised to the $75 minimum, provided you qualify at all. The ceiling is set as 47.6% of the state average weekly wage and is recalculated every year, which is why the maximum moves and why the DOL stamps its table with an effective month.

How long it lasts

Your total entitlement, the maximum benefit amount, is the lesser of 27% of your total base period wages or 26 times your weekly benefit amount. Someone whose wages were concentrated in one quarter hits the 27% limit first and gets fewer weeks; someone with steady wages across the base period gets the full 26 weeks. The table's 10 to 26 week range is the result of that formula, not a separate rule. Regular benefits only: the DOL note says the table excludes extended benefits paid in high-unemployment periods.

Worked example

High quarter $12,500, base period total $40,000, wages in three quarters: WBA = $12,500 / 25 = $500. Qualifying wages needed: 37 x $500 = $18,500, which $40,000 clears. Maximum benefit amount: 27% of $40,000 = $10,800, versus 26 x $500 = $13,000; the lesser is $10,800, so about 21.6 weeks at $500. Second case, high quarter $20,000 and base period $60,000: $20,000 / 25 = $800, held to $605; 27% of $60,000 = $16,200 versus 26 x $605 = $15,730; the lesser is $15,730, the full 26 weeks. While claiming, Texas disregards the greater of $5 or one-quarter of the weekly amount in part-time earnings: $151.25 a week at the $605 maximum.

Method

WBA = high-quarter wages / 25, rounded to the nearest dollar (DERIVED rounding; TWC applies its own), then held between the $75 minimum and $605 maximum. With base period wages entered, the maximum benefit amount is the lesser of 27% of those wages or 26 x WBA, the weeks shown are that amount divided by the WBA, and the qualifying test is base period wages of at least 37 x WBA with wages in two quarters. Figures read on November 11, 2026 from the DOL Significant Provisions table effective July 2026. The tool does not check separation reasons, work search or other eligibility rules.

What this does not cover

• Whether you qualify on non-monetary grounds: the reason you left work, availability and work search.
• The exact rounding TWC applies to the weekly amount.
• Extended benefits, disaster unemployment assistance and federal programs.
• The alternate base period, which TWC may use when the standard one does not qualify you.

Figures read from the sources below on November 11, 2026. Last updated November 11, 2026.

Sources

• U.S. Department of Labor, ETA Office of Unemployment Insurance: Significant Provisions of State Unemployment Insurance Laws, effective July 2026 (PDF) (retrieved November 11, 2026)