Weekly benefit amount and weeks in Arizona

The weekly benefit

Weekly benefit

up to $320

Maximum: benefit years starting after June 30, 2022

How it is figured

Your weekly benefit is 1/25 of the wages paid in the quarter of your base period with your highest wages, rounded to the nearest dollar (50 cents rounds up). The maximum is $320 a week. The lowest weekly benefit depends on the minimum-wage wage test.

Official

Official table or notice

Law: A.R.S. 23-779(A), (B)

The wage test

You can qualify in one of two ways. (1) Your total base-period wages are at least 1.5 times your highest quarter, and your highest quarter is at least 390 times the Arizona minimum wage in effect when you file. (2) You have wages in at least two quarters, one quarter is high enough to get the maximum weekly benefit, and your total base-period wages are at least $8,000.

Your base period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before your claim starts. If you could not work because of a work injury and received temporary total disability payments, a special base period may be used if you file in time.

The state's wage tests

• Total wages at least 1.5 times your highest quarter, and highest quarter at least 390 times the Arizona minimum wage — Your highest-quarter wages must be at least 390 times the Arizona minimum wage in effect when you file.
• Wages in two quarters, one quarter high enough for the maximum weekly benefit, and at least $8,000 in total — One quarter's wages must be high enough to get the maximum weekly benefit ($320; the weekly benefit is 1/25 of the highest quarter), and total base-period wages must be at least $8,000 (Arizona's taxable wage base since 2023).

Law: A.R.S. 23-605, 23-771(A)(6), 23-622(B)(1)(b)

Official source: Source page

Estimate your weekly benefit

Enter the gross wages (before taxes) you were paid in each quarter of your base period. We apply the state's own formula to your numbers.

The state's formula: your highest quarter ÷ 25, rounded to the nearest dollar (a .50 rounds down); at most $320

How long it lasts

Currently 24 weeks (it changes with the unemployment rate).

The most you can get in a benefit year is 24 times your weekly benefit (26 times when Arizona's unemployment rate is 5% or more), but never more than one-third of your total base-period wages.

You can get 26 times your weekly benefit if Arizona's average seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the most recently published calendar quarter was 5% or more, and 24 times if it was below 5%. The rate averaged 4.9% in July-September 2026, so new claims get up to 24 weeks.

Law: 4.8% in April-June 2026

Law: A.R.S. 23-780

Official source: Source page

Waiting week

Your first eligible week of unemployment is an unpaid waiting week. You must meet all the rules that week, but you are not paid for it.

Law: A.R.S. 23-771(A)(5)

Official source: Source page

Working part time

You can get partial benefits in a week you work part time. Report all your earnings for the week. DES subtracts the part of your wages that is over $160 from your weekly benefit, rounded to the nearest dollar.

Earnings not deducted (as the data states it)

The first $160 you earn in a week is not deducted.

Law: A.R.S. 23-779(C)

Official source: Source page

What applies in every state

• You must have earned enough wages, or worked enough, during a period called the base period. In most states it is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you file.
• It generally takes two to three weeks after you file to get your first payment. Some states require a one-week waiting period, so the second week you claim is the first week paid.
• Unemployment benefits count as income for federal income tax. You must report them on your federal tax return.

  Law: 26 U.S.C. 85(a)

Free help

Call 1-877-600-2722. Legal aid and other free help in Arizona → Official sources →