In many states the unemployment maximum is a number in the statute books, and it changes only when lawmakers vote to change it. California has been stuck at $450 since 2005. Florida has been at $275 since 1998. Those are political decisions, not automatic calculations.
But a different group of states wrote their maximums into law as a formula tied to the state average weekly wage. As wages grow, the maximum grows with them, no vote required.
These are the published maximums, not a promise of what you will receive. Verify your own amount with your state's unemployment office before you plan around it.
How the formula works
The typical approach: the state measures its average weekly wage for the prior calendar year. The maximum weekly unemployment benefit is then set at a fixed percentage of that figure. The percentages vary more than you would expect, from 50% in New York to 66 and two-thirds percent in Minnesota. Oregon's statute sets the maximum at 64% of the state average weekly wage, rounded down.
For 2026, Oregon's 2025 average weekly wage came in at $1,410.13, up 3.4% from the prior year. Sixty-four percent of that is $902.48, rounded down to $902. Before June 28, the maximum was $872, calculated the same way from the 2024 wage figure.
The change does not affect people already receiving benefits. Your weekly amount is fixed when your benefit year starts. If you filed in March 2026, you are on the $872 schedule for the duration of your claim. If you file on or after June 28, 2026, the new $902 figure applies.
States that index their maximums
Oregon is not alone. A number of states automatically adjust based on wages or some similar index:
- Oregon: indexed to 64% of the state average weekly wage. The maximum is $902 for claims filed on or after June 28, 2026, up from $872.
- Washington: indexed to 63% of the state average weekly wage. The maximum is $1,208 for benefit years starting on or after July 5, 2026, up from $1,152.
- Massachusetts: indexed to 57.5% of the state average weekly wage, resetting for benefit years that start on or after the first Sunday in October. The maximum rose to $1,154 on October 4, 2026, up from $1,105. Dependent children add $25 each on top.
- Minnesota: indexed to 66 and two-thirds percent of the state average weekly wage. The maximum is $948, and it resets for new claims starting October 25, 2026.
- New Jersey: indexed to 56 and two-thirds percent of the statewide average weekly remuneration. The maximum rose to $905 on January 1, 2026, and New Jersey has already posted $937 for 2027.
- Rhode Island: indexed to the state average weekly wage. The maximum rose to $777 for claims effective on or after July 1, 2026, and reaches $971 with five dependents.
- New York:the maximum sat at $504 from October 2019 to October 2025. New York's step increases were already written into Labor Law section 590, but the same section blocks them in any year the state unemployment trust fund sits below 30% of the average high cost multiple, and the fund was in debt to the federal government. The 2025 state budget paid off that loan and suspended the block for one year, setting a flat $869 effective October 6, 2025. The statute schedules 50% of the state average weekly wage from October 2026 onward, but that step is still subject to the same trust fund test, and New York has not published an increase for 2026.
Michigan belongs in a different category. A 2024 law set fixed dollar steps rather than an index: $446 for claims filed in 2025, $530 in 2026, and $614 in 2027. The maximum is not adjusted automatically until claims filed on or after January 1, 2028, and when it is, it tracks the Consumer Price Index rather than wages.
Figures verified October 6, 2026. Each state's maximum applies to the benefit year in which your claim starts, so an existing claim keeps the rate it was opened at. Individual benefit amounts are lower than these maximums for most claimants; the maximum only applies to higher earners.
States where the maximum has not moved in years
The contrast is stark. California's $450 ceiling has been frozen since January 2005. Florida's statutory maximum has been $275 since January 1998. California's own Legislative Analyst's Office estimates that if the state maximum had kept pace with inflation it would be $765 today, meaning it has fallen by nearly half in real terms over two decades.
If you are in one of these states, the maximum is unlikely to change without legislation. Check our state-by-state ranking to see where yours stands.
What this means if you are about to file
If your Oregon benefit year started before June 28, 2026, you are on the $872 schedule for the rest of that claim. Oregon fixes your weekly amount when your benefit year begins and does not revisit it. Claims starting on or after June 28 use the $902 ceiling.
This is worth understanding for next year, because Oregon resets on roughly the same schedule every June. The temptation is to delay filing to land on the higher ceiling. Do not. The gap is about $30 a week, or $780 across a full 26 weeks, and only for people who earn enough to hit the maximum at all. Unemployment runs on a weekly cycle, so every week you wait is a week of benefits you never get back. Two missed weeks at $872 already costs more than the entire year's increase.
The right call: file as soon as you separate, regardless of where the ceiling sits. You can't time the system for a meaningful gain, and waiting costs you money.