Unemployment Benefits in Oregon: How Much Will You Get?
Oregon pays up to $902/week for up to 26 weeks. Here is exactly how your benefit is calculated, what you need to qualify, and how to file.
✓ Verified against Oregon Employment Department (unemployment.oregon.gov) · Updated September 2026
Max Weekly Benefit
$902
Per week maximum
Max Duration
1–26 wks
Weeks of benefits
Waiting Period
1 week
Before first payment
Replacement Rate
~65%
Of avg weekly wage
🧮 Oregon Layoff Runway Calculator
Your Oregon unemployment benefit is pre-filled below based on state data. Enter your salary, savings, and expenses to see exactly how long your money lasts — month by month.
$
$
$
Oregon Unemployment Benefit
Up to $902/week · 26 weeks max · 1 week waiting period
See Your Full Financial Runway After a Layoff in Oregon
Unemployment benefits are just one piece. Enter your savings, severance, and expenses to get a month-by-month breakdown of exactly how long your money lasts.
Base period: total base-period wages exceeding $1,000 and at least 1.5× your highest-earning quarter, or at least 500 hours of employment in your base period. Your weekly benefit is 1.25% of your total base-period wages — roughly 65% wage replacement, among the most generous formulas in the country — capped at $902 (effective June 28, 2026, up from $872). Oregon also has an unusually high minimum benefit of $211. Oregon has a 1-week waiting period.
Prior Annual Salary
Est. Weekly Benefit
Est. Monthly Benefit
Total (max duration)
$40,000/year
$500
$2,165
$13,000
$60,000/year
$750
$3,248
$19,500
$80,000/year
$902
$3,906
$23,452
$100,000/year
$902
$3,906
$23,452
$150,000+/year
$902 (capped)
$3,906
$23,452
Estimates based on Oregon’s actual benefit formula (~65% replacement, capped at $902/week). Actual benefit determined by your specific wage history and state review.
Eligibility Requirements in Oregon
To qualify for unemployment benefits in Oregon, you must meet all of these conditions:
Unemployed through no fault of your own — laid off, position eliminated, or company closed. Voluntary resignation or termination for cause generally disqualifies you.
Earned sufficient wages during the base period — Oregon looks at your earnings in the first four of the last five completed calendar quarters before you filed.
Able and available to work — you must be actively seeking employment and available to accept suitable work if offered.
Registered with Oregon workforce services — most states require you to register with their job search system as a condition of receiving benefits.
File immediately — every day costs you money
Oregon has a 1-week waiting period before your first payment — but that clock starts on the day you file. File at unemployment.oregon.gov the same day you are laid off, or the next morning at the latest. Every day you delay is potentially lost benefits you cannot recover.
How Much You Can Earn While Still Collecting in Oregon
You can earn up to the greater of one-third of your weekly benefit amount or $163 without any reduction.
Have ready: your Social Security number, employer name and address, start and end dates of employment, and reason for separation.
Report your severance — if you received severance pay, you must report it. Oregon may treat it as wages which could delay the start of your benefits.
Certify weekly — after filing, you must certify your job search activity every week to continue receiving payments. Missing a certification week can pause your benefits.
Report any income — if you earn money through freelancing, part-time work, or gig work while collecting benefits, you must report it. Most states reduce your benefit by the amount earned over a small threshold.
Taxes on unemployment benefits
Unemployment benefits are taxable as ordinary income at the federal level — and in Oregon, at the state level too, on a graduated scale up to 9.9%, among the highest state income tax rates in the country. You can request both federal (10%) and state withholding when you file — highly recommended. If you don't withhold, you will owe the taxes when you file your return, which can be a painful surprise when you are already financially stretched.
What's Different About Filing in Oregon
A few things are distinctly Oregon:
The cap just rose, and rises every year automatically. Oregon law requires an annual adjustment based on the state's average weekly wage — the June 2026 update pushed the max from $872 to $902 and the minimum from $204 to $211.
Oregon's formula uses your entire base period, not just one quarter — 1.25% of everything you earned across up to 4 quarters, which is part of why its ~65% replacement rate ranks among the most generous in the country.
Strike benefits are new as of January 2026. Under SB 916, workers on strike or locked out can now receive limited benefits after a 2-week wait — before this law, participating in a labor dispute disqualified you for its entire duration.
State tax takes a real bite. Oregon taxes UI benefits up to 9.9%, on top of federal tax — among the highest combined tax exposure of any state for unemployment income.
How Oregon Compares to Other States
Oregon combines a high $902 maximum with one of the country's most generous minimum benefits at $211 — even low-wage workers get a meaningful safety net here, unlike states like Arizona or Missouri where minimums sit near $30.
Unemployment benefits are one part of your survival plan. Our free calculator combines your Oregon unemployment estimate with your savings, severance, and COBRA costs to show you month-by-month how long your money lasts.
Unemployment benefit data verified against Oregon Employment Department (unemployment.oregon.gov), September 2026. Benefit amounts are estimates — actual amounts are determined by your specific wage history and OED's review. This is for informational purposes only and is not financial or legal advice.