Unlike FUTA’s flat federal rate, SUTA rates are individually assigned to each employer based on their own unemployment claims history — a genuinely different tax paid in addition to, not instead of, FUTA.
How it works
Each employee’s wages up to the state wage base are SUTA-taxable. Multiplying total SUTA wages by the employer’s assigned experience rate gives the tax owed.
What this does not include
New employers are typically assigned a fixed “new employer rate” until they build enough claims history to earn an individual experience rate — this calculator takes whatever rate is entered as a direct input rather than modeling that transition.
How to use this calculator
- Enter employee count, average wages, and the state wage base.
- Enter the employer’s assigned experience rate.
Frequently asked questions
Why is the SUTA wage base usually higher than FUTA’s?
States set their own wage bases independently, and most have raised theirs well above the federal $7,000 floor over time, unlike FUTA’s base which has stayed fixed.
Can a business have a different SUTA rate in different states?
Yes — an employer with workers in multiple states typically has a separate experience rating (and separate wage base) in each state where it has employees.
Does laying off employees affect a future SUTA rate?
Yes — claims filed by laid-off employees typically raise an employer’s future experience rate, which is the core mechanism linking claims history to the rate.
