How much does unemployment pay in Texas?

What TWC pays you in a given week can be less than your weekly benefit amount (WBA). Part-time earnings, a pension, military disability pay, and child support can each reduce it.

Estimate your weekly amount

TWC's Benefits Estimator estimates your potential benefit amount before you apply. It cannot tell you whether you qualify. The rules for that are in who qualifies for unemployment in Texas.

When this guide was checked, the estimator said claims filed through October 3, 2026 use wages from all your employers between April 1, 2025 and March 31, 2026. For each calendar quarter in that window, you enter your wages before withholding (gross pay) and select the pay period. To fill it in:

• Use pay stubs, W2 forms, or both to find your wages.
• Include wages for work in another state, for the federal government, and for the military.
• Enter zero for any quarter when you had no wages.

The estimator assumes a 40-hour work week. If you worked part time, TWC says to estimate your monthly or quarterly wages.

After you file, TWC mails you a Statement of Wages and Potential Benefit Amounts. If it has mistakes, call a TWC Tele-Center at 800-939-6631 right away.

The weekly minimum and maximum

TWC lists the lowest and highest weekly benefit amounts by start date:

Texas law has TWC compute the minimum and maximum by October 1 of each year, based on the previous year's average weekly wage. The law also limits each yearly increase to $14 for the maximum and $1 for the minimum.

An example with $400 a week

Suppose you earned $10,000, $8,000, $7,000, and $5,000 in the quarters of your base period.

1. Your highest quarter is $10,000.
2. $10,000 divided by 25 is $400, already a whole dollar, so nothing needs rounding.
3. $400 falls between the $75 minimum and the $605 maximum, so your weekly benefit amount would be $400.

Which quarters make up your base period is explained in Texas eligibility rules. To see the most this $400 claim could pay in total, go to how long benefits last in Texas.

Working part time while you claim

You may earn up to 25 percent of your weekly benefit amount in a week before TWC reduces your benefits for that week. If you earn more, TWC reduces the payment by the amount over 25 percent. If you earn more than your weekly benefit amount plus 25 percent, TWC cannot pay you benefits for that week.

To work out what you may receive, multiply your weekly benefit amount by 1.25, then subtract your gross earnings. TWC's own example uses a $400 weekly benefit amount:

If you work part time, you may keep receiving benefits as long as you meet all other requirements, including looking for full-time work. TWC points out that part-time work combined with partial benefits may bring you more money than unemployment benefits alone. How to report what you earned is covered in the Texas payment requests guide.

Other payments that reduce your benefits

• A pension from an employer whose wages TWC used to calculate your benefits reduces your weekly benefits by the pension amount.
• Disability pay from a military branch is deducted from your benefit payments. Disability pay from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is not.
• If you owe court-ordered child support, TWC reduces your weekly payment by up to 50 percent to pay it.

You must report any military retirement pension or disability pay to TWC, either when you apply or by calling a Tele-Center at 800-939-6631.