Pennsylvania Unemployment Benefits Calculator
Estimate your Pennsylvania unemployment benefits. Max weekly: $613 with dependents, $605 without. Max weeks: 26. Free calculator.
If you earned a steady $1,000 a week for the past year with no dependents, Pennsylvania's benefit formula gives about $512 a week in Pennsylvania unemployment for up to 26 weeks, $13,312 in total. Enter your own wages below; Pennsylvania's unemployment agency makes the official determination.
Estimate only, not an official determination. What this estimate covers and its limits
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Estimated Weekly Benefit Amount (WBA)
Estimated • Based on your inputs
Estimated Monthly Benefit
$2,217.00
Detailed Breakdown
Cumulative Benefits
Disclaimer: This calculator provides estimates for informational purposes only. Results should not be considered financial, tax, or legal advice. Consult a qualified professional for your specific situation.
How This Calculator Works
Calculation methodology and assumptions
Pennsylvania calculates your base Weekly Benefit Amount as (4% of your highest-quarter wages + $2), then multiplies that by 0.98 (Section 404 of the Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Law, 43 P.S. §804(a)), floored at $68 and capped at $605 before any dependent allowance. A dependency allowance of $5/week is then added for your first dependent, plus $3/week for a second (no allowance for a 3rd or beyond) — bringing the overall range to $68-$76 minimum and $605-$613 maximum depending on dependents (§804(c)). Your maximum total benefit for the claim is your ACTUAL number of credit weeks (weeks with qualifying wages) in the base period, times your weekly amount (§804(e)(1)) — Pennsylvania requires at least 18 credit weeks to qualify, and pays up to 26. This calculator asks for your credit weeks directly rather than guessing them from a wage figure, since credit weeks is the literal statutory variable.
Estimate only — these are not official figures
The weekly benefit applies Pennsylvania's exact statutory formula, cited in the methodology and sources, so it matches the law when the wages you enter are accurate. The page is still labeled an estimate because its monthly figure (the weekly amount times 4.33) is not an amount the state pays and only the state agency can decide whether you qualify. The maximum weekly benefit ($613 with dependents, $605 without) and duration (26 weeks) come from published sources.
Do not rely on these amounts for budgeting or payment. For exact amounts, check the Pennsylvania state unemployment insurance agency (file there and use its official benefits estimator for your actual Weekly Benefit Amount determination).
Key State Information
Pennsylvania's maximum weekly UI benefit is $605 (or $613 with 2+ dependents), with a $68-$76 minimum depending on dependents. Duration equals your actual credit weeks in the base period, from 18 up to 26. Pennsylvania is one of relatively few states that both pays a small flat per-dependent allowance AND ties total duration directly to your actual weeks worked, not a percentage-of-wages formula.
Example Calculation
Let's review the inputs that set unemployment benefits in Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania uses its own benefit formula from state law rather than a general 50%-of-wage estimate. Enter the exact quarter/base-period wage and eligibility fields requested by the calculator; the required inputs differ by state and cannot be reconstructed safely from median household income.
Result: Published maximum weekly amount: $613 with dependents, $605 without. Current maximum duration: 26 weeks. These are ceilings, not a typical award; the calculator above applies Pennsylvania's source-backed formula to your own wage history, and only the state agency determines eligibility.
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StateCalc Team
Editorial Team
The StateCalc team builds free financial calculators using data from official government sources including the IRS, U.S. Census Bureau, BLS, and state revenue departments. All formulas are validated by an automated test suite and cross-referenced against published data.
Our editorial standardsFrequently Asked Questions
How much is unemployment in Pennsylvania?
Pennsylvania pays (4% of your highest-quarter wages + $2) x 0.98, floored at $68 and capped at $605, plus $5/week for a first dependent and $3/week for a second. A worker with $13,000 in their highest quarter and no dependents would get an estimated $512/week; with 2 dependents, an estimated $520/week.
What is a "credit week" in Pennsylvania?
A credit week is any week in your base period where you earned at least a minimum qualifying amount from a covered employer. Pennsylvania requires at least 18 credit weeks to qualify for benefits, and your total benefit for the claim equals your credit weeks times your weekly benefit amount, up to 26 weeks (Section 404 of the Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Law, 43 P.S. §804(e)(1)).
Does Pennsylvania pay extra for more than 2 dependents?
No. Pennsylvania's dependency allowance is capped at 2 dependents: $5/week for the first, plus $3/week for the second, for a maximum $8/week add-on regardless of how many additional dependents you have.
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