Illinois Unemployment Benefits Estimator 2026

Illinois Unemployment Benefits Estimator (2026)

Applies the IDES computation rules (820 ILCS 405/401; IDES Table BEN 548, effective January 1, 2026) to the wages you enter. Estimates only — IDES determines actual amounts.

Wages in your highest-earning quarter ($) Gross wages (before taxes) in the 3-month quarter of your base period when you earned the most. Include tips, commissions, bonuses and vacation pay; exclude severance. Wages in your second-highest quarter ($) Illinois computes your weekly benefit from your two highest-earning quarters combined, not just one. Dependents Illinois adds a dependents’ allowance for a non-working spouse or a dependent child. The child allowance is higher; state law does not pay both at once. Total wages in your 12-month base period ($) Optional — used to check the $1,600 / $440 monetary thresholds more precisely and to estimate your maximum benefit amount.

Benefit amounts can change every January. Get a free email alert when Illinois updates its rates — sourced from .gov only.

How this tool works. The estimator computes your average weekly wage as the sum of your two highest base-period quarters divided by 26, then applies the statutory replacement rate of 47% (820 ILCS 405/401), bounded by the 2026 maximums in IDES Table BEN 548: $628 with no dependents, $748 with a non-working spouse (allowance of 9% of your average weekly wage), and $859 with a dependent child (allowance of 17.3%). Results are rounded to the next dollar, so actual table values can differ by about $1. All three caps derive from the statewide average weekly wage of $1,334.81, so each applies once your two-quarter total reaches about $34,705. The maximum benefit amount reflects Illinois’s uniform 26-week duration.

Limitations. This is a calculation, not a determination. Non-monetary requirements (unemployed through no fault of your own, able and available to work, actively seeking work, registered with the state employment service, a one-week unpaid waiting period) also apply and are assessed by IDES after you file. This tool does not cover federal extensions or dependents’ documentation rules.

Sources: IDES Table BEN 548 — Weekly Benefit Amounts (effective Jan. 1, 2026); 820 ILCS 405/401; 820 ILCS 405/500; U.S. DOL, Significant Provisions of State UI Laws (January 2026). Rules last verified: July 5, 2026.

This tool provides estimates for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, tax, or financial advice. RemoteLaws is not a law firm. © 2026 RemoteLaws.