A report from personal finance website WalletHub reveals where you live may make a difference regarding keeping New Year’s resolutions.
The website states:
Your location may be setting you up for failure.
If you live in a neighborhood with no sidewalks or fitness centers nearby, for example, you may not feel as encouraged to exercise. The same goes if most of your restaurant options are limited to fast food – you may be less likely to eat healthy on days you dine out. These might sound like excuses to the boldest resolvers, but they genuinely can get in the way of self-improvement. That’s especially true if your motivation is low to begin with.
The rate of “resolution failure” is high — 80 percent and 92 percent, depending on the survey — WalletHub reports.
“Regardless of the actual figure, a high number of people will fail at some point in the process and break the usual resolutions, such as ‘lose weight,’ ‘save more’ and ‘reduce stress.’”
WalletHub ranked more than 180 cities based on 56 key metrics, “ranging from gyms per capita to income growth to employment outlook.”
Here are some of the best cities to make a New Year’s vow:
• Fremont, California, has the lowest share of obese adults, 14.7 percent, which is 3.1 times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest at 45.1 percent.
• Seattle, has the lowest share of delinquent debtors, 1.92 percent, which is 6.3 times lower than in Jackson, Mississippi, the city with the highest at 12.13 percent.
• South Burlington, Vermont, has the lowest unemployment rate, 2.0 percent, which is 4.7 times lower than in Detroit, the city with the highest at 9.3 percent.
• Huntington, West Virginia, has the lowest prevalence of adult binge- and heavy drinking, 12.15 percent, which is 2.4 times lower than in Madison, Wisconsin, the city with the highest at 29.44 percent.
• San Jose, California, has the lowest share of adult smokers, 8.20 percent, which is three times lower than in St. Louis, the city with the highest at 24.69 percent.
The report also reveals that “spend less and save more” is among both the most popular and most commonly broken New Year’s resolutions.
Find the full report and your city’s rank here.
Follow Penny Starr on Twitter.