This study has two objectives: (1) to evaluate the degradation characteristics of symmetric unbraced steel frames by using analytical approach, and (2) to suggest equation which can approximately estimate the effect of degradation during the schematic design stage. For the analytical approach, the refined plastic hinge method with an arc length algorithm was adopted. The subject of analysis was one story one-bay, multistory one-bay, and multistory three-bay unbraced steel frames. The main parameters of the analytical approach include the stiffness ratio of column to beam and the axial force ratio. The study led to the following conclusions. The normalized stiffness of degradations is affected by both stiffness ratio of column to beam and the axial load ratio; however, the major influence on degradations is the axial force ratio. The equation, which can approximately estimate the effect of degradation, was suggested together with the research results.