Current Minimum and Maximum Benefit Amounts in Colorado

In Colorado, the minimum benefit is $25 per week, and the maximum benefit is $781 per week.

Pandemic Unemployment Benefits Have Expired

Although additional money -- $300 extra per week -- was available under the federal Pandemic Unemployment Compensation program, that program expired on September 6, 2021. For weeks of unemployment starting on September 6 or later, these extra benefits will no longer be paid. 

A different federal program -- Pandemic Unemployment Assistance -- made benefits available temporarily to workers who were not eligible for traditional unemployment benefits, including freelancers, gig workers, and other contractors. That program also expired on September 6, 2021. 

How Colorado Determines Benefit Amounts

Each state determines how much it will pay in unemployment benefits. Generally, the weekly benefit amount is some fraction or percentage of your earnings in the base period or your highest paid quarter of the base period.

In Colorado, your weekly benefit will be the higher of:

• 60% of 1/26th of your wages in the two quarters of the base period in which you earned the most, up to a cap of $710 per week, or
• 50% of 1/52nd of your wages in the entire base period, up to a cap of $781.

To make sure these amounts are still current when you apply for benefits, contact the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment.