How Much Money Can I Earn While Receiving Unemployment?

Protected Earnings

Many states allow people receiving unemployment to earn up to a specific percentage of their benefit through part-time work without affecting the benefit at all. For example, in Texas, you can earn up to 25 percent of your unemployment check with no penalty, but each dollar above that reduces your check amount by a dollar. So, if your usual unemployment check was $350, the first $87.50 of your earnings would not affect your check. So, if you earned $100 that week, you would only subtract $12.50 from your check and get $337.50.

In some states, a percentage of your earnings are subtracted from each unemployment check. For example, in Minnesota, 55 percent of what you earn is subtracted from your unemployment check from that week. If you usually receive a check for $300 but you earned $200 that week with outside work, multiply $200 by 0.55 to calculate that you subtract $110 from your unemployment check and will only receive $190 that week.

Some states reduce your unemployment benefits by the number of days you work rather than how much you earn on those days. For example, in New York, you lose 25 percent of your weekly unemployment benefits for each partial or full day that you work. So if you were getting $400 each week for unemployment, you lose $100 for each day you work, regardless of how long you work during that day.

Although working part-time might not seem like it is worth the hassle if it reduces the amount of your unemployment benefits, it has a few advantages that you should consider. For example, in many states, you can draw unemployment for longer if you are not getting the full amount each week because you are earning some money. This gives you longer to find a full-time job. Another advantage of working part-time is that your position develops your work experience and could lead to a full-time job later. Lastly, going to work provides structure to your day and helps you feel like you are doing something worthwhile.