Weekly benefit amount and weeks in Minnesota

The weekly benefit

Weekly benefit

up to $983

Maximum: benefit accounts effective on or after October 25, 2026 (the last Sunday in October)

How it is figured

Your weekly benefit amount is the higher of two figures: 50% of your average weekly wage over the whole base period (total wages divided by 52), up to 66 2/3% of the state's average weekly wage; or 50% of your average weekly wage in your highest quarter (that quarter's wages divided by 13), up to 43% of the state's average weekly wage. DEED says this is about 50% of your average weekly wage, up to a maximum of $983 a week for accounts started on or after October 25, 2026.

Official

Official table or notice

Law: Minn. Stat. sec. 268.07, subd. 2a

The wage test

To set up a benefit account, your base-period wage credits must be at least 5.3% of the state's average annual wage, rounded down to the next lower $100. The amount is updated each year on the last Sunday in October.

Your base period is usually the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters. If you apply in the second or third month of a quarter, DEED also looks at the last four completed quarters and uses whichever period has more wages.

The state's wage tests

• Base-period wages of at least 5.3% of the state's average annual wage — Wage credits of at least 5.3% of the state's average annual wage, rounded down to the next lower $100

Law: Minn. Stat. sec. 268.07, subd. 2

Official source: Source page

How long it lasts

Up to 26 weeks.

The most you can get on a benefit account is 26 times your weekly benefit amount or one-third of your base-period wage credits, whichever is lower. So claims last up to 26 weeks, and claims with lower total wages run out sooner.

Law: Minn. Stat. sec. 268.07, subd. 2a(c)

Official source: Source page

Waiting week

The first week you are eligible is your nonpayable week. It is never paid, but you must request it to be paid for later weeks. You have only one nonpayable week in the 52 weeks after you apply.

Law: Minn. Stat. sec. 268.085, subd. 1(6)

Official source: Source page

Working part time

You can get a partial payment for a week you work fewer than 32 hours and earn less than your weekly benefit amount. DEED subtracts 50% of your earnings from your weekly benefit amount. You get nothing for a week you work 32 or more hours or earn as much as your weekly benefit amount.

Earnings not deducted (as the data states it)

An amount equal to 50% of your earnings that week is not deducted.

Law: Minn. Stat. sec. 268.085, subd. 5

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

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