The Pennsylvania Unemployment Benefit Estimator projects the weekly and total unemployment insurance (UI) payments you could receive if you lose your job through no fault of your own. Pennsylvania ties your weekly benefit amount (WBA) to your highest-paid calendar quarter in the base period, then checks that your total base-year earnings are large enough to qualify and to support 26 weeks of benefits.
How it works
Pennsylvania’s benefit formula has three moving parts:
1. Weekly benefit amount. The state benefit table pays approximately 4% of your highest-quarter wages, then rounds and applies floors and caps:
WBA ≈ highest-quarter wages x 0.04
clamped between $68 (minimum) and $605 (2024 maximum)2. Dependent allowance. Add $5/week for a dependent spouse and $3/week for one dependent child, up to $8 total — but the WBA plus allowance still cannot exceed the maximum.
3. Total benefits payable. Pennsylvania pays up to 26 weeks, but your total is capped at the smaller of 26 x WBA or 30% of total base-year wages:
Maximum benefits = min(26 x WBA, 0.30 x total base-year wages)
Weeks payable = Maximum benefits / WBATo qualify, your total base-year wages must be high enough relative to your highest quarter (the state uses a qualifying-wage table). This tool flags when your earnings look too low to qualify.
Tips and notes
- Use gross wages. Enter pre-tax wages for each figure — UI eligibility is based on gross earnings reported by your employer.
- State tax is zero. Pennsylvania does not tax UI benefits, though federal income tax still applies and can be withheld.
- Estimate only. The exact WBA comes from the official PA rate-and-amount-of-benefits table and your specific credit weeks; treat this as a close approximation, not a determination.
- All calculations run locally in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded.