Previous Salary

• Although Texas sets maximum limits for all unemployment benefits, your particular maximum payments depend on your personal information. The greatest determining factor is how much you previously earned . The Texas Workforce Commission will calculate your earnings the last five full calendar quarters before you filed your initial claim. They will use the first four quarters as your base year and total the reported wages during that time. Your weekly benefit will be about half of your average weekly salary during that base year.
  
  

Maximum Weekly Benefits

• Your salary during the base period determines your weekly payment, but Texas state law limits unemployment benefit payments to less than $415 a week. This law prevents those who made a significant salary from collecting large payments on unemployment. To make the maximum weekly benefit, you would have had to make an average of $830 per week during your base period. If you made more than that, the Texas Workforce Commission adjusts the payment down to the maximum of $415.
  
  

Maximum Weeks

• Texas law also sets a maximum of how long you can collect your unemployment benefit payments. You cannot receive payment for longer than twenty-six weeks, even if you still have not found new employment. Since part of the requirement to receive unemployment benefits is that you actively seek new work, the Texas Workforce Commission believes that in most cases you should be able to find work in just over six months. If you cannot, you may qualify for a federal unemployment extension.
  
  

Federal Extensions

• Texas unemployment maximums do not apply with federal extensions. This is when the federal government funds additional unemployment payments to start after a state's unemployment benefits run out. Congress determines the qualifications and unemployment maximums for federal extensions when available. In Texas, you must apply for federal extensions separately when your state unemployment benefits end. The maximum you will receive through a federal extension varies depending on the current laws.