Wisconsin Unemployment 2026: $370 Max, Eligibility, How to File

Wisconsin pays a weekly unemployment benefit of $54 to $370. Your rate is 4% of the wages you were paid in the highest-paid quarter of your base period, under Wis. Stat. § 108.05(1)(r), and you can receive it for up to 26 weeks. These dollar figures are written into the statute, so they do not reset each year; they change only when the Legislature amends the law.

Claims are handled by the Unemployment Insurance Division of the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD). For how unemployment works across the country, including federal tax on benefits, 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 Wisconsin under Chapter 108 of the Wisconsin Statutes. It does not cover federal programs for federal civilian employees or veterans (UCFE/UCX), Disaster Unemployment Assistance, extended benefits, or claims filed in other states.

Who is eligible for unemployment in Wisconsin

You may be eligible if you are out of work or working reduced hours, earned enough in covered work during your base period, and are able to work, available for work and searching for work. DWD decides every claim.

Your base period is the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before your benefit year begins. If you do not qualify that way, DWD uses the four most recently completed quarters instead (Wis. Stat. § 108.02(4)).

The earnings test under Wis. Stat. § 108.04(4)(a) has two parts:

• Your total base-period wages must be at least 35 times your weekly benefit rate.
• At least 4 times your weekly benefit rate must come from one or more quarters other than your highest-paid quarter.

Because the minimum rate is $54, your highest quarter needs at least $1,350 in wages for any benefit at all. If you already collected benefits in your previous benefit year, you also need to have earned at least 8 times your latest weekly rate since that prior benefit year began before you can start a new one (Wis. Stat. § 108.04(4)(c)).

How much unemployment pays in Wisconsin

The statute sets the rate at 4% of your base-period wages paid in your highest-wage quarter, rounded down to the nearest whole dollar. If that comes to less than $54, no benefits are payable. If it comes to more than $370, your rate is $370 (Wis. Stat. § 108.05(1)(r)). A high quarter of about $9,250 or more reaches the maximum.

Wisconsin adds nothing for dependents. The weekly rate comes only from your wages.

Example (illustration only): Say your highest quarter paid $8,000 and your whole base period paid $30,000. Your rate is 4% of $8,000, or $320 a week. You pass the earnings test, because $30,000 is more than 35 times $320 ($11,200) and the $22,000 earned outside your high quarter is more than 4 times $320 ($1,280). You can estimate your own amount with our Wisconsin unemployment calculator. Only DWD's monetary determination is official.

How long unemployment lasts in Wisconsin

The ceiling is 26 weeks. Under Wis. Stat. § 108.06(1), your total benefits in a benefit year cannot exceed 26 times your weekly rate or 40% of your base-period wages, whichever is lower. Wisconsin does not tie the number of weeks to its unemployment rate.

For most people with steady earnings, 26 times the weekly rate is the lower figure, so they can draw 26 full weeks. People whose wages were concentrated in one or two quarters can hit the 40% cap first.

Example (illustration only): With the same $8,000 high quarter and a $320 rate, but only $15,000 in total base-period wages, 26 times $320 is $8,320 while 40% of $15,000 is $6,000. The lower figure, $6,000, is your total, which is about 18 to 19 weeks at $320. DWD's benefit computation shows the maximum number of weeks you could receive.

The waiting week

Wisconsin has an unpaid waiting week. The first week of your benefit year for which you filed on time and are otherwise eligible is your waiting period, and no benefit is paid for it (Wis. Stat. § 108.04(3)). DWD's handbook says this applies to every new benefit year. The pandemic-era suspension of the waiting week has ended.

Quitting a job

If you quit, you are ineligible until you earn wages after the week you quit equal to at least 6 times your weekly benefit rate, in covered work in any state or for the federal government (Wis. Stat. § 108.04(7)(a)). This is an earnings requirement, not a set number of weeks. Wisconsin is an at-will employment state, but whether you can collect after leaving is a separate question decided under this statute.

The quit penalty does not apply in situations the statute lists, including when you:

• Quit for good cause attributable to the employer. That includes being directed to violate federal or Wisconsin law, or sexual harassment the employer knew or should have known about and did not correct.
• Quit because of your own verified illness or disability with no reasonable alternative.
• Quit to care for an immediate family member with a verified illness or disability for longer than your employer would grant leave.
• Quit because an employer-required shift transfer would leave your minor children without child care.
• Quit to take other covered work with equal or greater weekly wages or hours, significantly longer-term work, or a location significantly closer to home.
• Quit because of domestic abuse or concerns about personal safety or harassment for you or members of your household, and you give DWD a protective order, a law enforcement report, or evidence from a health care professional or domestic violence shelter employee.
• Quit to follow a spouse on active military duty who had to relocate somewhere you could not practically commute from.
• Quit within 30 calendar days work you could have refused as unsuitable.

Being fired: misconduct and substantial fault

Wisconsin has two discharge categories that block benefits: misconduct and the lesser "substantial fault."

Misconduct means conduct showing willful or wanton disregard of the employer's interests, or carelessness or negligence so serious or repeated that it shows culpability or intentional disregard of your duties (Wis. Stat. § 108.04(5)). The statute also lists specific examples, including:

• Violating a written alcohol or drug policy, including refusing or failing a test.
• Theft or felonious conduct connected with the job, or intentionally or negligently causing substantial damage to property.
• Threats or acts of harassment, assault or violence at work.
• Absences on more than 2 occasions within 120 days without notice and a valid reason, unless a different rule is set in an employee manual you signed for, or excessive tardiness that breaks a policy the employer told you about.
• Falsifying business records, unless directed to by the employer.

Substantial fault covers acts or omissions within your reasonable control that break your employer's reasonable requirements (Wis. Stat. § 108.04(5g)). It does not include minor rule infractions unless repeated after a warning, inadvertent errors, or failing to do work because of insufficient skill, ability or equipment.

Either finding carries the same penalty: you are ineligible until 7 weeks have passed since the end of the week of discharge and you have earned at least 14 times your weekly rate in covered work after that week. For misconduct, wages from the employer that fired you are also excluded from the base-period wages used for your benefits. A disciplinary suspension for good cause makes you ineligible until 3 weeks pass or the suspension ends, whichever comes first (Wis. Stat. § 108.04(6)).

When you separate from a job, your employer's wage obligations are a separate matter; see Wisconsin final paycheck laws.

Work search and Job Center registration

You must register for work with the Job Center of Wisconsin within 14 days of the date you complete your initial claim application. DWD says registration includes completing and activating a resume, and if you register late you may be denied benefits for any week before the date you register.

Each week you must perform at least four work search actions, unless DWD notifies you the requirement is waived (Wis. Stat. § 108.04(2)(a)). DWD tells claimants to document every action and keep proof for one year.

The statute provides waivers in specific situations, such as a temporary layoff with a reasonable expectation of recall within 8 weeks (extendable to 12), a new job starting within 4 weeks, certain union hiring-hall members, jury service, and approved training. You must also take part in any reemployment services DWD requires.

Working part time while claiming

You can earn some wages and still collect a partial benefit. Under Wis. Stat. § 108.05(3)(a), the first $30 you earn in a week is disregarded, and your weekly benefit is reduced by 67% of the remaining wages. If the resulting payment would be less than $5, nothing is paid for that week.

You receive no benefit for a week in which you work (or receive holiday, vacation, sick or termination pay) for 32 or more hours, or in which your wages and certain other pay total more than $500.

Example (illustration only): With a $320 weekly rate and $230 in part-time wages, DWD disregards $30, leaving $200. Sixty-seven percent of $200 is $134, so the payment for that week would be about $186.

How to apply and file weekly claims

File online through the DWD Claimant Portal at my.unemployment.wisconsin.gov. The Wisconsin Unemployment Help Center is at (414) 435-7069 or toll-free (844) 910-3661; DWD's handbook notes its hours have changed several times, so check the claimant handbook for current hours.

Filing has two steps:

1. Initial claim application. File within 7 days of the end of the calendar week in which you want to receive a payment. If all your work in the last 18 months was in Wisconsin, you file in Wisconsin even if you have moved. You will need your Social Security number and your work history for the last 18 months.
2. Weekly claim certification. You can certify starting the Sunday after your initial claim. Each week's certification is due by 3:00 p.m. on the Saturday that is 14 days after the end of the week you are claiming. Report all earnings truthfully.

Denials and appeals

If you disagree with a determination, request a hearing. Your request must be received by an appeal tribunal, or postmarked, within 14 days after the determination was delivered electronically, mailed or given to you, whichever came first (Wis. Stat. § 108.09(2r)). The last appeal date is printed on the front of each determination, and each determination has its own deadline. A late appeal needs good cause, which an administrative law judge decides.

The appeal levels are:

1. Appeal tribunal hearing before an administrative law judge. You can appeal online through the Claimant Portal, by mail to the UI Hearing Office, P.O. Box 7975, Madison, WI 53707, or by fax to (608) 327-6498. The Hearing Office phone number is (608) 266-8010.
2. Labor and Industry Review Commission (LIRC). Your petition for review must be postmarked or received within 21 days of the date the hearing decision is mailed.
3. Circuit court. An action against the commission must be started within 30 days after the date of the commission's order (Wis. Stat. § 108.09(7)(c)).

DWD says you must keep maintaining eligibility while your appeal is pending: keep searching for work, file your weekly claims, and report your earnings. If you win, you are paid only for the weeks in which you met those requirements.

Overpayments

If you were paid benefits you were not entitled to, you must repay them. DWD can recover the money by deducting it from future benefits (Wis. Stat. § 108.22(8)(b)), and DWD says installment payment plans may be available if you cannot pay in full. Wisconsin does not charge interest on benefit overpayments.

Recovery must be waived if the overpayment resulted from a departmental error and not from your fault or a false statement. A reversal on appeal does not count as departmental error.

Concealment is treated far more harshly. If you intentionally mislead DWD, for example by hiding wages or hours, you pay a penalty of 40% of the benefits wrongly paid, and you lose future benefits equal to 2 times your weekly rate for each act, rising to 4 and then 8 times your rate after later concealment determinations (Wis. Stat. § 108.04(11)).

Wisconsin income tax on unemployment

Wisconsin taxes unemployment benefits, but the Department of Revenue allows a subtraction that can reduce the taxable amount. The subtraction applies when your federal adjusted gross income, counting unemployment, exceeds a base amount: $12,000 for single filers, $18,000 for married couples filing jointly, $12,000 for married filing separately if you did not live with your spouse, and $0 if you did. The Wisconsin-taxable amount is the lesser of one-half of the excess over the base amount or the unemployment you received.

DWD can withhold 5% for Wisconsin tax and 10% for federal tax if you request it. For federal tax treatment, see our unemployment benefits by state guide.

Recent changes

No 2025 or 2026 law changed Wisconsin's benefit amounts or eligibility rules: Chapter 108, as published October 1, 2026, still sets the $54 minimum, the $370 maximum, the 4% formula and the 26-week, 40% cap. Assembly Bill 532, which would have raised the maximum weekly benefit to $497, failed to pass on March 23, 2026.

Common myths

• "Wisconsin's maximum went up to $497." It did not. The bill failed, and the maximum is $370.
• "There is no waiting week anymore." The pandemic suspension ended. Every new benefit year starts with an unpaid waiting week.
• "Everyone gets 26 weeks." Twenty-six weeks is the ceiling. Your total is the lower of 26 times your rate or 40% of your base-period wages.
• "You have a month to appeal." You have 14 days from delivery or mailing of the determination.
• "Unemployment is fully taxable in Wisconsin." It is taxable, but a subtraction can reduce the taxable amount depending on your income and filing status.

Disclaimer: This article provides general legal information about Wisconsin unemployment insurance, not legal advice or a benefit determination. Only the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development decides whether you are eligible and how much you receive. Information verified on October 7, 2026. If your claim has been denied, consider consulting a lawyer licensed in Wisconsin or a legal aid office.

Related

• Unemployment benefits by state
• Wisconsin unemployment calculator
• Wisconsin at-will employment laws
• Wisconsin final paycheck laws

Last updated: October 7, 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the maximum unemployment benefit in Wisconsin in 2026?

$370 a week under Wis. Stat. § 108.05(1)(r). A bill to raise it to $497 (AB 532) failed to pass on March 23, 2026.

What is the minimum weekly unemployment benefit in Wisconsin?

$54. If 4% of your highest base-period quarter is less than $54, no benefits are payable, which means you need at least $1,350 in that quarter.

How is Wisconsin unemployment calculated?

DWD takes 4% of the wages paid in the highest-paid quarter of your base period and rounds down to the whole dollar, within the $54 to $370 range. There is no extra amount for dependents.

How many weeks of unemployment can you get in Wisconsin?

Up to 26. Your total benefit is the lower of 26 times your weekly rate or 40% of your base-period wages (Wis. Stat. § 108.06(1)), so uneven earnings can mean fewer weeks.

Does Wisconsin have a waiting week for unemployment?

Yes. DWD says no benefit is payable for the first week you would otherwise be eligible in every new benefit year, under Wis. Stat. § 108.04(3).

How many job searches do I need for Wisconsin unemployment?

At least four work search actions each week, unless DWD notifies you the requirement is waived. DWD tells claimants to keep proof of their search for one year.

Can I collect unemployment in Wisconsin if I quit my job?

Generally not until you earn at least 6 times your weekly rate in covered work after the quit, unless an exception in Wis. Stat. § 108.04(7) applies, such as good cause attributable to the employer, a verified illness, or domestic abuse.

Can I work part time and still get Wisconsin unemployment?

Yes, for a week with fewer than 32 hours and $500 or less in pay. The first $30 is disregarded and your benefit is reduced by 67% of the remaining wages.

How long do I have to appeal a Wisconsin unemployment denial?

14 days after the determination was delivered electronically, mailed or given to you, whichever came first. The last appeal date is printed on the front of each determination.

Is unemployment taxable in Wisconsin?

Yes, though the Department of Revenue allows a subtraction that can shrink the taxable amount for lower-income filers. DWD can withhold 5% for state tax if you ask.