How many budget surpluses have we had in the last 40 years?

Over the last 40 years, the United States has experienced budget surpluses in only a few instances, primarily during the late 1990s and early 2000s. The most notable surpluses occurred from 1998 to 2001, with the federal budget achieving a surplus in each of those years. Overall, there have been a total of five years with budget surpluses since 1980.