Weekly benefit amount and weeks in Virginia

The weekly benefit

Weekly benefit

$160–$478

Maximum: new claims effective on or after July 1, 2026 (VEC: claims filed on or after July 5, 2026); before that $112 to $430

How it is figured

Your weekly benefit amount comes from the Benefit Table in Virginia law, based on your wages in the two highest quarters of your base period combined.

Official

Official table or notice

Law: Va. Code sec. 60.2-602(D)

The wage test

You must have been paid at least $3,000 in the two quarters of your base period with your highest wages combined, with wages in at least two quarters.

Your base period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before your claim's effective date. If you do not have enough wages in it, the VEC uses the alternate base period: the four most recent completed calendar quarters. You cannot choose which base period is used.

The state's wage tests

• At least $3,000 in your two highest quarters combined, earned in at least two quarters — Total of the two highest base-period quarters at least $3,000

Law: Va. Code secs. 60.2-204, 60.2-612(A)(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 table and formula to your numbers.

How long it lasts

Up to 26 weeks.

You can get from 12 to 26 weeks of benefits. The Benefit Table sets the number of weeks from your total base-period wages compared with your two-highest-quarter wages; the more evenly you earned across the year, the more weeks you get. The total can never be more than 26 times your weekly benefit amount.

Law: Va. Code secs. 60.2-602, 60.2-607

Official source: Source page

Waiting week

The first week of your claim is an unpaid waiting week. You must file a weekly claim for it and meet all eligibility rules that week. Only one waiting week is required in a benefit year. It is waived if your employer closed, went out of business or declared bankruptcy without paying your final wages.

Law: Va. Code sec. 60.2-612(A)(9)

Official source: Source page

Working part time

You can work part time and still get a partial payment if your gross earnings for the week are less than your weekly benefit amount. The first $100 you earn does not count; any earnings above $100 are taken off your weekly benefit. If you earn as much as or more than your weekly benefit amount, you are not paid for that week. Report gross earnings for the week you earn them.

Earnings not deducted (as the data states it)

The first $100 you earn in a week is not deducted.

Law: Va. Code sec. 60.2-603(A)

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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