Oregon Unemployment Benefits 2026: $902 Max, Weeks, How to File

Oregon pays a maximum of $902 a week and a minimum of $211 a week in unemployment benefits for new claims filed on or after June 28, 2026, according to the Oregon Employment Department (OED). If you filed a new claim earlier in 2026, your claim keeps the previous $872 maximum and $204 minimum for its whole duration.

Benefits last up to 26 weeks under ORS 657.150. OED runs the program and takes claims through Frances Online. The minimum and maximum reset each year around the end of June, so the next change is expected around the end of June 2027.

This page covers Oregon's own rules. For how the federal-state system works and how Oregon compares with other states, see our guide to unemployment benefits by state.

Information last verified on October 7, 2026. This article has not been reviewed by a licensed lawyer.

Jurisdiction scope: This page covers regular state unemployment insurance in Oregon under ORS chapter 657 and OED's administrative rules (OAR chapter 471). It does not cover federal programs such as unemployment for former federal workers (UCFE) or ex-military members (UCX), Disaster Unemployment Assistance, extended benefits, or claims filed in other states.

Who is eligible for unemployment in Oregon

You may be eligible if you are unemployed, earned enough in your base year, and are able to work, available for work and actively looking for work (ORS 657.155). OED decides every claim; meeting the general rules does not guarantee approval.

Earnings test. Under ORS 657.150(2), you meet the wage test if you worked in covered employment in your base year and earned:

• at least $1,000 in total base-year wages, and
• total base-year wages of at least 1.5 times the wages in your highest-paid base-year quarter.

If you do not meet that test, you can still qualify by having worked at least 500 hours in covered employment during the base year. OED's eligibility page asks the same question in plain terms: did you work at least 500 hours or get paid at least $1,000 by an employer during your base year?

Base year. Your base year is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before your claim (ORS 657.010). OED's examples: a claim filed between October and December 2026 uses wages from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026.

Alternate base year. If you do not qualify using the regular base year, ORS 657.173 lets OED use the last four completed calendar quarters instead, if that makes you eligible. It is not available if you would qualify for regular benefits in another state using that state's standard base year.

A second claim. If you received benefits in a prior benefit year, you must also have earned at least six times your weekly benefit amount in covered work after that earlier benefit year began (ORS 657.150(2)).

How much unemployment pays in Oregon

Your weekly benefit amount is 1.25% of the total wages paid in your base year, but not less than the minimum or more than the maximum (ORS 657.150(4)). OED's handbook puts it the same way: "The weekly benefit amount is 1.25% of your total base period wages."

State law sets the minimum at 15% and the maximum at 64% of the state average weekly wage for the prior calendar year, rounded down to the nearest dollar, according to OED's May 29, 2026 announcement. Oregon does not add an allowance for dependents.

Worked example. Suppose your base-year wages total $40,000 and you meet the earnings test. 1.25% of $40,000 is $500, so your weekly benefit would be $500. Base-year wages of about $72,160 or more reach the $902 cap (1.25% of $72,160 is $902). You can estimate your amount with our Oregon unemployment calculator; OED makes the official determination.

How long unemployment lasts in Oregon

The maximum is 26 weeks. Under ORS 657.150(5), total benefits in a benefit year "shall not exceed 26 times the individual's weekly benefit amount, or one-third of the base year's wages paid, whichever is the lesser." Oregon does not tie the number of weeks to the state unemployment rate.

For most claimants the 26-week limit is the one that applies. The one-third cap matters for lower earners, especially people whose weekly amount is raised to the minimum. For example, with $12,000 in base-year wages, 1.25% is $150, which is raised to the $211 minimum. The total cap is the lesser of $5,486 (26 times $211) or $4,000 (one-third of $12,000), so that claim would pay $4,000 in total, which runs out in under 19 weeks.

Waiting week

Oregon requires one unpaid waiting week per claim. "Oregon law requires each person who files for unemployment insurance benefits to serve one waiting week per claim," OED says on its weekly claims page. ORS 657.155 requires the waiting week, and OED defines it as the first week you file a weekly claim and meet all eligibility requirements.

You are not paid for it, but you must still file a weekly claim for that week to get credit.

Quitting a job and being fired

Oregon disqualifies you if you left work voluntarily without good cause or were discharged for misconduct connected with work (ORS 657.176). If you are disqualified, the disqualification lasts until you go back to covered work and earn at least four times your weekly benefit amount after the week of the separation.

Whether your employer could lawfully end your job is a separate question from whether you receive benefits, which OED decides. For the employment side, see Oregon at-will employment laws.

Quitting with good cause

Under OED's rule, OAR 471-030-0038, good cause means a reason that would lead a reasonable and prudent person of normal sensitivity, using ordinary common sense, to leave work, and that is serious enough that you had no reasonable alternative but to quit. For a person with a permanent or long-term impairment, the test asks what a reasonable person with that impairment would do. A pay cut is generally not good cause unless the new rate is at least 10% below the median rate for similar work in your labor market.

The statute also protects specific situations:

• Domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault or bias crime. You are not disqualified for leaving or turning down work to protect yourself or an immediate family member who is a victim, or who you believe could become one (ORS 657.176(11)).
• Union contracts. You are not disqualified if the employer unilaterally cut wages in breach of a collective bargaining agreement in effect, or if you elected a layoff under such an agreement and were placed on the referral list (ORS 657.176(4) and (10)).

Being fired for misconduct

OAR 471-030-0038 defines misconduct as a willful or wantonly negligent violation of the standards of behavior an employer has the right to expect. Isolated instances of poor judgment, good-faith errors, unavoidable accidents, absences due to illness or disability, and mere inefficiency from lack of skill or experience are not misconduct.

Two statutory rules go further:

• Drug and alcohol policies. Being discharged or suspended for violating a reasonable written drug, cannabis or alcohol policy, refusing a required test, testing positive, or breaching a last chance agreement is a disqualifying act under ORS 657.176(8), with a limited exception for people who take part in rehabilitation.
• Work-connected felony or theft. If you are discharged for a work-connected felony or theft that you admit or are convicted of, and the employer notifies OED within the deadline the statute sets, ORS 657.176(3) cancels benefit rights based on wages earned before the discharge.

When your job ends, your employer also owes you your final wages on a set schedule. See Oregon final paycheck laws.

Work search requirements

You must look for work every week you claim. According to the OED claimant handbook, you must complete at least five work-search activities each week, and at least two of the five must be direct contact with an employer who might hire you. Keep a record of your activities: you report the details on each weekly claim and OED may verify employer contacts.

OED's work-search rule, OAR 471-030-0036, sets different requirements for some claimants:

• If you are temporarily laid off and expect to return to your regular employer within four weeks, you stay in contact with that employer instead.
• If you are a member in good standing of a union that dispatches work, you stay in contact with the union.
• Federal employees temporarily out of work because of a government shutdown have their own rule.

OED may also require you to take part in reemployment services (ORS 657.156).

Working part-time while on unemployment

You can work part-time and still receive a reduced benefit. Under ORS 657.150(6), your weekly benefit is reduced, but not below zero, by the amount of your earnings that exceeds the greater of:

• 10 times the Oregon minimum hourly wage, or
• one-third of your weekly benefit amount.

Report all of your gross earnings for each week you claim. Holiday and vacation pay count as earnings for the week they fall in, and back pay counts for the period it covers (ORS 657.150(7)-(8)). For the current hourly rate used in that calculation, see Oregon minimum wage.

How to apply for unemployment in Oregon

File your initial claim the first week you are out of work or your hours are cut. You can apply, file weekly claims and restart a claim through Frances Online, which OED says is available seven days a week. You can also call the UI Contact Center at 877-345-3484.

Have this ready, per the OED handbook:

• your Social Security number;
• the names, addresses, phone numbers and dates of work for each employer in your base year.

OED may need to verify your identity. If so, it sends a letter with a one-time passcode.

Filing weekly claims. After you apply, you file a weekly claim for each week, after the week ends. "If you filed your initial claim this week, you need to wait until Sunday to file your first weekly claim," the handbook says. That first weekly claim is your waiting week. You can file weekly claims online or through OED's automated weekly-claim phone line.

Denials and appeals

OED mails a decision when it denies a claim or sets your benefit amount. According to OED's appeals page:

• Administrative decisions become final 20 calendar days after OED mails them. ORS 657.269 sets the same 20-day window, counted from delivery or, if mailed, from the mailing date.
• Monetary decisions (your weekly amount, maximum benefit amount, or base-year wages) become final 10 calendar days after OED mails them.

The appeal levels are:

1. Hearing. An administrative law judge from the Office of Administrative Hearings holds the hearing, usually by phone.
2. Employment Appeals Board. You can ask the board to review the judge's decision within 20 days after the decision was mailed (ORS 657.270(6)). The board reviews the hearing record (ORS 657.275).
3. Court. You can seek judicial review of the board's decision; the petition is due within 30 days after the board's order is served (ORS 657.282).

Keep filing weekly claims. "If you appeal an administrative decision, continue to file for benefits each week," OED says. If you win, you are paid only for weeks you claimed on time.

Overpayments and fraud

If you received benefits you were not entitled to because of a false statement, misrepresentation or failure to disclose a material fact, you must repay them or have them deducted from future benefits, whether or not you knew the statement was wrong (ORS 657.310). Interest of 1% per month starts on the first day of the month after the decision has been final for 60 days.

Willfully making a false statement or hiding a material fact to get benefits can lead to:

• disqualification from future benefits for up to 52 weeks (ORS 657.215);
• a penalty of 15% to 30% of the overpaid amount (ORS 657.310(3));
• possible criminal prosecution, according to the OED handbook.

OED can waive recovery of some overpayments if collecting them would be against equity and good conscience, but not overpayments that carry the fraud penalty (ORS 657.317).

Is Oregon unemployment taxable?

Yes. "Your benefits are taxable by the federal and state governments," the OED handbook says. You can choose to have 6% of your weekly benefit withheld for Oregon income tax and 10% for federal income tax, according to OED's 1099-G page. OED reports your benefits on Form 1099-G and posts it in Frances Online in early February. For the federal side, see our unemployment benefits by state guide.

Recent changes

• New maximum and minimum. The weekly maximum rose from $872 to $902 and the minimum from $204 to $211 for new claims filed on or after June 28, 2026 (OED).
• Striking workers. Senate Bill 916 (2025) authorizes limited benefits for striking workers, beginning January 4, 2026, according to OED's strikes page. Benefits are capped at 8 or 10 weeks depending on the tax schedule in effect when the strike begins (10 weeks in 2026), an unpaid strike week applies, and strikers must complete one work-seeking activity a week. OED notes the work-search requirements for strikers may change after discussions with the U.S. Department of Labor.
• Overpayment waivers. The 2025 Legislature amended ORS 657.317, the overpayment waiver statute (Oregon Laws 2025, chapter 432).

Common myths

• "The Oregon maximum is $872." That figure applies only to claims filed before June 28, 2026. New claims filed on or after that date have a $902 maximum.
• "You have 30 days to appeal." Most decisions become final 20 calendar days after mailing, and monetary decisions after 10.
• "Oregon has no waiting week." It does: one unpaid waiting week per claim, which you must still claim.
• "Two or three job contacts a week is enough." Oregon requires five work-search activities a week, at least two of them direct employer contacts.

Disclaimer: This page provides general legal information about Oregon unemployment insurance, not legal advice or a benefit determination. Only the Oregon Employment Department decides whether you are eligible and how much you receive. Information verified October 7, 2026. If your claim is denied, consider talking with a lawyer licensed in Oregon or a legal aid office.

Related

• Unemployment benefits by state
• Oregon unemployment calculator
• Oregon at-will employment laws
• Oregon final paycheck laws
• Oregon minimum wage

Last updated: October 7, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the maximum unemployment benefit in Oregon in 2026?

$902 a week for new claims filed on or after June 28, 2026, according to OED. If you filed your claim earlier in 2026, your claim keeps the $872 maximum for its full duration.

What is the minimum weekly unemployment benefit in Oregon?

$211 a week for new claims filed on or after June 28, 2026, and $204 for claims filed before that date. OED sets the minimum at 15% of the state average weekly wage.

How is Oregon unemployment calculated?

OED takes 1.25% of your total base-year wages and keeps the result between the minimum and maximum (ORS 657.150). For example, $40,000 in base-year wages works out to $500 a week.

How long does unemployment last in Oregon?

Up to 26 weeks. Total benefits are capped at the lesser of 26 times your weekly amount or one-third of your base-year wages (ORS 657.150(5)), so some claimants get fewer weeks.

Do I get paid for the first week of unemployment in Oregon?

No. Your first eligible week is an unpaid waiting week under ORS 657.155, but you must still file a weekly claim for it to get credit.

How much do I need to earn to qualify for unemployment in Oregon?

At least $1,000 in base-year wages and total base-year wages of at least 1.5 times your highest quarter, or at least 500 hours worked in the base year (ORS 657.150(2)).

Can I get unemployment in Oregon if I quit my job?

Only if you had good cause, meaning a reason so serious that a reasonable person would have had no reasonable alternative but to leave (OAR 471-030-0038). Leaving to protect yourself or a family member from domestic violence, stalking, sexual assault or a bias crime is protected by ORS 657.176(11).

How many job contacts does Oregon require each week?

At least five work-search activities a week, with at least two of them direct contacts with employers who might hire you, according to OED. You report them on each weekly claim.

How long do I have to appeal an Oregon unemployment denial?

Administrative decisions become final 20 calendar days after OED mails them, and monetary decisions after 10 calendar days, according to OED. Keep filing weekly claims during the appeal.

Can I work part-time and still collect unemployment in Oregon?

Yes. Under ORS 657.150(6), your weekly benefit is reduced only by earnings above the greater of 10 times the state minimum hourly wage or one-third of your weekly benefit amount.

Is Oregon unemployment taxable?

Yes. OED says benefits are taxable by both the federal and state governments, and you can choose 6% Oregon and 10% federal withholding. Your Form 1099-G is posted in Frances Online.