Weekly benefit amount and weeks in Idaho

The weekly benefit

Weekly benefit

$72–$624

Maximum: new claims filed from the first full week of January 2026 until the first full week of January 2027

How it is figured

Your weekly benefit amount is your highest-quarter wages divided by 26, rounded down to the dollar, up to the maximum. The maximum is $624 for new claims filed from the first full week of January 2026. The minimum qualifying quarter of $1,872 gives the $72 minimum.

Official

Official table or notice

Law: Idaho Code 72-1367(2), (5)

The wage test

You must have wages in at least two quarters of your base period, at least $1,872 in one quarter, and total base-period wages of at least 1.25 times your highest quarter.

IDOL first uses the regular base period: the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters. If you do not qualify, it can use the alternative base period: the last four completed calendar quarters.

The state's wage tests

• At least $1,872 in your highest quarter, wages in at least 2 quarters, and total base-period wages at least 1.25 times your highest quarter

Law: Idaho Code 72-1367(1)

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 ÷ 26, rounded down; at least $72 and at most $624

How long it lasts

10 to 26 weeks.

You can get between 10 and 26 weeks, depending on how steady your wages were and on Idaho's unemployment rate. When unemployment is low, the most anyone gets is about 20 to 21 weeks. If your wages were much higher in one quarter than the others, you get fewer weeks. Benefits must be used within your 52-week benefit year; working part time can stretch them out.

The number of weeks comes from a table in Idaho law using two things: your ratio of total base-period wages to highest-quarter wages, and Idaho's official forecasted, seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, set every three months (benefit weeks in October to December use the August rate; January to March use the November rate). The scale runs from 10 weeks up to 26 weeks when the rate is 8% or higher; at a rate of 3% to 3.9% the most is 21 weeks, and at 2.9% or lower the most is 20 weeks. IDOL's UI facts sheet dated March 2026 said claims got between 10 and 20 weeks.

Law: Idaho Code 72-1367(3)

Law: Idaho Code 72-1367(3)

Official source: Source page

Waiting week

Every claimant must serve one unpaid waiting week each benefit year. It is the first week you are eligible and file a weekly certification; file it the first Sunday after you open your claim. A week where you earn more than 1.5 times your weekly benefit does not count.

Law: Idaho Code 72-1366(4)(a)

Official source: Source page

Working part time

You can work part time and still get your full weekly benefit if you earn half or less of it. If you earn more than half, your benefit drops a dollar for every dollar over half. If you earn 1.5 times your weekly benefit or work full time, you get no payment that week. Report wages for the week you did the work.

Law: Idaho Code 72-1367(4)

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 208-332-8942. Legal aid and other free help in Idaho → Official sources →