Unemployment benefits in Pierre
Unemployment insurance in Pierre is a South Dakota program, filed with the state agency rather than with Hughes County. The weekly amount and the number of weeks come from state law, and both are below.
Where a Pierre case goes
Claims from Pierre go to the South Dakota unemployment agency, not to a Hughes County office. Benefits are paid by the state under the formula below. Pierre has about 13,788 residents (Census Bureau, 2024 estimate).
Open the full South Dakota unemployment calculator → — same formula, with every input, the statute (SDCL § 61-6-2; South Dakota DLR) and the date it was last checked.
Formula
Highest quarter ÷ 26
Maximum
$514 · up to 26 weeks
Does Pierre have its own rule?
No. SDCL § 61-6-2; South Dakota DLR applies across South Dakota, so a claim from Pierre is decided by the same numbers as one filed anywhere else in the state. What changes locally is which workforce office you deal with in person and how busy it is — not the weekly amount or the number of weeks.
What the statute says
SDCL § 61-6-2; South Dakota DLR — South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation. South Dakota pays your highest quarter ÷ 26, capped at $514 for 2026; the maximum is set at 50% of the state average weekly wage each year.
Last checked 2026-09-02. Read the source →
Also for Pierre
Other South Dakota cities
Sioux Falls · Rapid City · Aberdeen · Brookings · Watertown · Yankton · Mitchell · Huron · Box Elder · Spearfish · Vermillion · Brandon
Everything StateTally tracks for South Dakota → · Unemployment in every city →