Illinois Unemployment Benefits Calculator

Your weekly benefit amount is 47% of the average weekly wage from the two highest-earning quarters of your base period. For 2026 the ceiling is $628 a week for a claimant with no dependents, $748 with a non-working spouse, and $859 with a dependent child. Benefits run for up to 26 weeks in a benefit year, so the maximum a single claimant can receive is about $16,300.

IDES adds together your wages from the two highest quarters of the base period, divides by 26 to get an average weekly wage, then multiplies by 47%. Claiming a dependent raises the multiplier: 56% for a non-working spouse, 64.4% for a dependent child. Whatever comes out is capped at the statutory maximum for your dependent status. If you earned $13,000 and $12,500 in your two best quarters, that is $25,500 ÷ 26 = $980.77 average weekly wage, and 47% of that is $460 a week.

The standard base period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you filed your claim. Filing in August 2026 makes the base period April 2025 to March 2026, because the quarter you are currently in and the one just ended are excluded. If you do not qualify on the standard base period, IDES automatically tests an alternate base period made up of the four most recently completed quarters, which helps people who have only recently entered the workforce.

Three conditions have to hold. You need at least $1,600 in base-period wages, with at least $440 of that earned outside your highest quarter. You must be unemployed through no fault of your own — laid off or your position eliminated, rather than quitting without good cause or being fired for misconduct. And you must be able to work, available for work and actively seeking it, certifying every two weeks and keeping a work-search record.

Up to 26 weeks within a benefit year, which is the 52 weeks beginning when you file. Extensions beyond 26 weeks exist only when a federal or state extended-benefits program is triggered by high unemployment, which is not the case in normal conditions. Weeks in which you earn part-time wages above your benefit amount do not count against the 26, so part-time work can stretch a claim.

Yes. IDES disregards part-time earnings up to 50% of your weekly benefit amount, and reduces your benefit dollar for dollar above that. On a $400 weekly benefit you can earn $200 with no reduction; earn $300 and your benefit drops to $300, giving a combined $600. You must report all gross earnings for the week you worked, not the week you were paid — unreported earnings are the most common cause of an overpayment notice.

Federally, yes — unemployment compensation is taxable income reported on Form 1099-G. Illinois taxes it too, at the flat 4.95%, because the state begins from federal adjusted gross income and does not subtract unemployment. You can elect to have 10% withheld for federal tax when you file your claim, which spares you a bill in April. Illinois withholding on benefits is optional and must be requested separately.

Quitting without good cause attributable to the employer, discharge for misconduct connected with the work, refusing suitable work without good reason, being unavailable for work — including illness or travel that prevents you accepting a job — and failing to certify or complete the required work-search activities. Receiving severance can delay benefits. If IDES denies a claim you have 30 days to appeal, and appeals succeed often enough to be worth filing.

Declare the dependent when you file the initial claim. You may claim either a non-working spouse or one or more dependent children under 18 — not both, and only one parent can claim a given child. IDES will ask for proof such as a birth certificate or marriage certificate. The choice matters: the child allowance lifts the rate from 47% to 64.4% and the maximum from $628 to $859 a week.