Want a New You in the New Year? Here's Where You're Most Likely to Make That Happen in 2017

Believe it or not, but 2017 is FINALLY. HERE.

And with it comes another chance to wipe that proverbial slate clean, to make promises to yourself that you want to keep.

You might promise yourself that you’ll start those home improvement projects you never got around to last year. Or you might promise yourself that you’ll get a housekeeper because you can’t remember whether your house came with hardwood floors or carpeting. Or you might promise yourself that you’ll spring for a tutor so you can finally learn Spanish — just ‘cuz.

Despite how well-intentioned our goals may be, they always seem to meet the same fate: sooner or later, life gets in the way and forces us to adjust – and our resolutions get lost in the shuffle.

Case in point: one in four Americans break their New Year’s resolution during the first week of the new year, and only 46 percent stick with it for another six months.

Although these stats may seem disheartening, it turns out that where you live can play a big part in your New Year’s resolution success.

To that end, researchers at Care.com decided to investigate which cities do the best — and worst — jobs of helping their citizens stick to their goals. Our analysts ranked the 89 largest metro areas in the U.S., based on how much each city encourages an active lifestyle, good eating habits and a positive mental state.

Want to know if your city made the cut? Take a look at the infographic below to see the five cities where you have the best chance of sticking to your New Year’s resolutions — and the five cities where you have the worst chance:

Infographic, courtesy of Care.com

And if you want to see the rankings for all 89 metro areas, take a look at the chart below:

Metropolitan Statistical Area (M.S.A.)	Overall Rank	Healthy Environment Rank	Healthy Body Rank	Healthy Diet Rank	Healthy Mind Rank
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA	1	2	13	10	8
Denver-Aurora-Lakewood, CO	2	5	6	5	3
Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, DC-VA-MD-WV	3	11	5	60	1
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH	4	12	1	23	11
Sacramento–Roseville–Arden-Arcade, CA	5	10	19	15	4
Reno, NV	6	18	17	1	24
Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue, WA	7	7	2	45	13
Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim, CA	8	14	16	31	6
Hartford-West Hartford-East Hartford, CT	9	33	14	29	7
Portland-Vancouver-Hillsboro, OR-WA	10	27	8	2	25
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ-PA	11	19	7	42	15
Provo-Orem, UT	12	1	55	64	35
Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, CT	13	9	4	86	2
Raleigh, NC	14	6	45	3	22
Colorado Springs, CO	15	16	34	54	9
Miami-Fort Lauderdale-West Palm Beach, FL	16	21	30	12	12
Salt Lake City, UT	17	4	27	24	30
Phoenix-Mesa-Scottsdale, AZ	18	17	61	67	5
Austin-Round Rock, TX	19	26	38	4	20
Orlando-Kissimmee-Sanford, FL	20	40	58	37	10
Boise City, ID	21	8	33	7	41
Spokane-Spokane Valley, WA	22	24	20	46	29
Ogden-Clearfield, UT	23	3	67	19	49
Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI	24	13	12	72	38
Portland-South Portland, ME	25	31	3	34	51
Albuquerque, NM	26	37	24	50	19
Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, CA	27	29	75	22	16
Providence-Warwick, RI-MA	28	30	22	44	27
Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell, GA	29	22	36	47	34
Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL	30	55	53	35	14
Baltimore-Columbia-Towson, MD	31	35	11	18	53
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin, IL-IN-WI	32	42	9	40	44
Richmond, VA	33	39	51	56	21
Jacksonville, FL	34	53	64	30	18
Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR-MO	35	20	66	78	17
Worcester, MA-CT	36	49	43	28	28
Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	37	34	10	39	59
Milwaukee-Waukesha-West Allis, WI	38	68	15	43	39
Springfield, MA	39	74	35	14	31
Allentown-Bethlehem-Easton, PA-NJ	40	65	50	33	33
San Antonio-New Braunfels, TX	41	44	81	52	23
Charlotte-Concord-Gastonia, NC-SC	42	48	65	41	37
Dayton, OH	43	28	37	27	63
Durham-Chapel Hill, NC	44	15	18	85	36
Buffalo-Cheektowaga-Niagara Falls, NY	45	62	21	9	62
Virginia Beach-Norfolk-Newport News, VA-NC	46	50	46	53	48
Salem, OR	47	41	25	74	56
Dallas-Fort Worth-Arlington, TX	48	32	78	63	42
El Paso, TX	49	61	82	65	26
Kansas City, MO-KS	50	51	62	55	50
Charleston-North Charleston, SC	51	36	44	32	76
St. Louis, MO-IL	52	59	31	69	55
Pittsburgh, PA	53	47	23	49	72
Nashville-Davidson–Murfreesboro–Franklin, TN	54	23	83	38	70
Cleveland-Elyria, OH	55	78	28	25	64
Greensboro-High Point, NC	56	77	69	11	52
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN	57	73	29	26	71
Detroit-Warren-Dearborn, MI	58	80	49	51	54
Grand Rapids-Wyoming, MI	59	52	26	62	77
Greenville-Anderson-Mauldin, SC	60	43	63	48	74
Columbus, OH	61	70	68	17	68
Baton Rouge, LA	62	54	72	76	46
Toledo, OH	63	38	71	20	83
Memphis, TN-MS-AR	64	71	87	61	40
Des Moines-West Des Moines, IA	65	25	32	84	67
Youngstown-Warren-Boardman, OH-PA	66	75	47	16	80
Akron, OH	67	81	42	6	84
Shreveport-Bossier City, LA	68	89	41	59	45
Omaha-Council Bluffs, NE-IA	69	45	39	82	66
Augusta-Richmond County, GA-SC	70	63	88	68	57
Myrtle Beach-Conway-North Myrtle Beach, SC-NC	71	56	60	57	82
Asheville, NC	72	60	56	80	61
Knoxville, TN	73	76	73	13	78
Oklahoma City, OK	74	46	77	79	58
Lafayette, LA	75	86	54	73	43
Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson, IN	76	57	80	8	86
Columbia, SC	77	69	48	66	85
Lexington-Fayette, KY	78	58	57	58	89
Louisville/Jefferson County, KY-IN	79	84	79	21	73
Fort Wayne, IN	80	67	84	36	87
New Orleans-Metairie, LA	81	87	40	71	69
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR	82	88	86	81	32
Winston-Salem, NC	83	66	59	89	47
Tulsa, OK	84	72	76	77	81
Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX	85	82	74	70	79
Birmingham-Hoover, AL	86	64	85	75	88
Scranton–Wilkes-Barre–Hazleton, PA	87	79	70	87	65
Chattanooga, TN-GA	88	83	52	88	60
Jackson, MS	89	85	89	83	75

Methodology

This study considers the 89 largest metropolitan statistical areas (M.S.A.s) in the US. Since health resolutions top the list of New Year’s resolutions, according to Marist Poll’s December 2015 survey, we focused on four categories that would support health resolutions — a healthy diet, a healthy body, a healthy mind and a healthy environment.

“Healthy Diet” measures access to healthy food, vegetable consumption and the number of organic food operations based on data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“Healthy Body” includes the number of gyms and fitness facilities per capita; walkability scores; the Physical Activity Index; and the number of public transportation trips per capita, based on data from the U.S.D.A., WalkScore.com, the C.D.C. and American Public Transportation Association (A.P.T.A.).

“Healthy Mind” is a combination of the percentage of people diagnosed with depression, the percentage of people who don’t get enough sleep more than half of the time, yoga studios per capita, and the number of cloudy days in a year. These data come from the C.D.C., Jawbone, Dun & Bradstreet, the Census Bureau and the National Climatic Data Center (N.C.D.C.).

“Healthy Environment” combines the following five factors from the C.D.C.: the number of people in fair or poor health, binge alcohol rates, tobacco use rates, prevalence of obesity, and prevalence of diabetes with the Gallup Well-Being Index.

Metrics within the four categories were calculated as a percentage of the population, combined and normalized on a scale of 0 to 100. The final score was created by applying 25% weight to each of the four categories.