Weekly benefit amount and weeks in Missouri

The weekly benefit

Weekly benefit

up to $320

Maximum: initial claims filed in calendar year 2008 and later

How it is figured

Your weekly benefit amount is 4% of the average of your two highest quarters of wages in the base period, rounded down to the dollar. The maximum is $320 a week.

Official

Official table or notice

Law: RSMo 288.038

The wage test

You must have been paid at least $1,500 in one quarter of your base period, and total base-period wages of at least 1.5 times your highest quarter. Or you can qualify with wages in at least two quarters and total base-period wages of at least 1.5 times the state taxable wage base ($9,000 in 2026).

Your base period is the first four of the last five full calendar quarters before your claim starts. Missouri does not use an alternate base period.

The state's wage tests

• $1,500 in your highest quarter and total base-period wages at least 1.5 times that quarter
• Wages in two quarters and total base-period wages at least 1.5 times the taxable wage base — Total base-period wages at least 1.5 times the maximum taxable wage base under RSMo 288.036 ($9,000 for 2026)

Law: RSMo 288.030.1(22)(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: the average of your two highest quarters × 4%, rounded down; at most $320

How long it lasts

Up to 20 weeks.

You can get up to 20 weeks of benefits in your benefit year. The most you can get is 20 times your weekly benefit amount or one-third (33 1/3%) of your wage credits, whichever is less. Your wage credits come from your base-period wages, but no quarter counts for more than 26 times your weekly benefit amount. So claims with lower or uneven wages run out sooner.

Law: RSMo 288.060.4 (version effective April 13, 2011)

Official source: Source page

Waiting week

Your first eligible week is an unpaid waiting week. You must still file a Weekly Request for Payment for it. You can be paid for the waiting week as the last payment on your claim, once your remaining balance is equal to or less than one week's payment.

Law: RSMo 288.040.1(4)

Official source: Source page

Working part time

You can get partial benefits in a week you work less than full time. Report your gross wages each week. You can earn $20 or 20% of your weekly benefit amount, whichever is more, before your benefit is reduced. DES subtracts the rest of your wages from your weekly benefit amount and rounds the payment down to the dollar.

Earnings not deducted (as the data states it)

The amount not deducted is the greater of $20 or 20% of your earnings that week.

Law: RSMo 288.060.3

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 1-800-320-2519. Legal aid and other free help in Missouri → Official sources →