Unemployment benefit duration by state.

Weeks of regular benefits by state, effective July 2026

Weeks are the DOL's "benefit weeks payable" column: the fewest and most weeks of regular benefits a claimant can receive. Where one number appears the state pays that duration to everyone who qualifies ("uniform duration" where the DOL labels it so). "Note 5" marks the seven states whose weeks also depend on the state's unemployment rate: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Kentucky, Massachusetts and Tennessee. The maximum weekly benefit excludes any dependents' allowance, and the last column simply multiplies it by the most weeks; it is DERIVED, not a published figure.

Why the range

In most states your total entitlement is a fraction of your base period wages, capped at a number of weeks times your weekly amount. Texas, for example, pays the lesser of 27% of base period wages or 26 times the weekly amount; Massachusetts the lesser of 36% or 30 times. Steady earners reach the week cap; people whose wages were concentrated in one quarter hit the percentage cap first and get fewer weeks. That is the whole story behind ranges such as Texas 10 to 26 or Oregon and Washington 1 to 26. The DOL table also notes that it excludes additional weeks some states pay in limited circumstances such as high unemployment, approved training or workforce dislocations.

The outliers

Arkansas (9 to 12 weeks) and Florida (9 to 12) have the shortest maximum duration, followed by Alabama (up to 14), Iowa and Kansas (10 to 16), Oklahoma (16) and the U.S. Virgin Islands (13 to 16). At the top, Massachusetts alone goes beyond 26 weeks, to 30. Several states combine a short maximum with a low weekly ceiling: Florida's $275 for at most 12 weeks is $3,300 at the very most, while Massachusetts' $1,105 for 30 weeks is $33,150. Both figures are the DERIVED column above.

Worked example

A claimant approved for $500 a week in Texas can receive 10 to 26 weeks, so between $5,000 and $13,000 of regular benefits; at the Texas maximum of $605 for 26 weeks the most is $15,730. The same claimant in New York, a uniform-duration state, gets exactly 26 weeks at whatever weekly amount is approved: $13,000 at $500 a week, or $22,594 at the $869 New York maximum. In Florida, approved at the $275 maximum, the entitlement is 9 to 12 weeks: $2,475 to $3,300.

Method

The lookup returns the DOL benefit weeks payable for the state you choose, the state's maximum weekly benefit from the same table, and a DERIVED total: your weekly amount (held to the state maximum) times the most weeks, and the fewest weeks where a range applies. Figures read on November 11, 2026 from the DOL Significant Provisions table effective July 2026, which the DOL calls informational rather than an official interpretation. Confirm with your state agency when you file.

What this does not cover

• Extended benefits, emergency programs and additional weeks for approved training, which the DOL table excludes.
• How each state computes your weekly amount: the Texas and Massachusetts pages linked above show two examples.
• Dependents' allowances, which raise the weekly maximum in some states.
• Changes after July 2026; the DOL's next edition is January 2027.

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)