Alabama is one of the hardest places to keep your New Year’s resolutions, according to WalletHub’s Best & Worst Cities for Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions. Researchers looked into more than 180 cities across the country comparing things like access to healthy-food stores, job opportunities and local restaurants.
Montgomery, Birmingham and Mobile all placed low on the list. The cities were ranked using five different categories: health, financial, school and work, bad-habit and relationship resolutions.
Cassandra Happe is a WalletHub analyst. She said Huntsville was the overall highest-ranking city in Alabama.
“Huntsville came in at 108 out of 182 cities when it came to bad habit resolutions. So that's a really good ranking for them in that particular category. When we talk about bad habits, we're talking about factors like binge drinking, smoking or not getting enough sleep. Things of that nature that people might be trying to improve in the New Year.”
The Rocket City also ranked well when it came to school and work resolutions, placing seventh in that category. These resolutions include things like income growth, quality of universities and job satisfaction in the area. Happe said this is a good sign for anyone looking to improve their knowledge or career goals this year.
Montgomery took a fair spot in 90th for the “School and Work” category but was toward the bottom of the list when it came to relationship resolutions. Happe said the importance of this category centers around personal happiness and growth.
“When we think about relationship resolutions, we looked at metrics relating to things like attractions, restaurants and the nightlife in that area. Overall, just single people’s friendliness,” she explained.
Happe said the Capital City’s population might have a harder time improving their relationships, but it’s still possible to keep healthy habits for this year. She said having a specific goal helps keep New Year’s resolutions on track.
“A really great goal is measurable. So, having something specific, like saying ‘I want to lose 20 pounds by the end of March’ is a lot easier to achieve than getting something really big. Then, you can't really mark your progress to see what you're doing well and where you can improve,” she explained.
Happe said New Year’s resolutions can be tough to maintain, but with the right planning and mindset they can become lifestyle changes. The WalletHub analyst offered this advice on how to stay on the right path with new habits: “You might slip up, and that's okay,” she said. “The important thing is to try to get back into that good habit versus letting that little slip up deter you from keeping up with that resolution.”
To read more about the Best & Worst Cities for Keeping Your New Year’s Resolutions study from WalletHub, click here.
