We’re less than a week into 2023, meaning that countless people around the globe are working on their New Year’s resolutions. According to a study from WalletHub, your location is a major factor in how likely you are to stick to your new goals — and San Francisco is one of the best places to be!
San Francisco came in at #2 for keeping your New Year’s resolutions out of 182 U.S. cities analyzed, with Seattle narrowly nabbing the top spot. In particular, SF’s cityscape and resources put us in a good spot for resolutions related to health, finance, and relationships. SF’s overall score was 67.15 on a 100-point scale, and might’ve taken the top spot if not for its low ranking in the “Bad Habit” category.
WalletHub analyzed the cities across the following 5 categories with 57 key metrics:
- Health resolutions, with metrics including obesity, number of weight-loss centers, and fitness club fees.
- Financial resolutions, with metrics including median annual income, housing affordability, and poverty rate.
- School & work resolutions, with metrics including average quality of universities, job security, and income growth.
- Bad habit resolutions, with metrics including binge drinking, share of marijuana users, and access to opioids.
- Relationship resolutions, with metrics including restaurants per capita, parks and playgrounds per capita, and family-friendliness.
In addition to San Francisco, a good handful of other California cities ranked in the study’s top 20 including Irvine (#6), Fremont (#7), San Diego (#8), San Jose (#12), and Huntington Beach (#18). Alternatively, some of the worst-performing California cities were San Bernardino (#175) and Moreno Valley (#157).
If you’re still thinking about your New Year’s resolutions for 2023, allow us to give you some inspiration! Here are some of our favorite articles with advice for living in San Francisco:
- Things you can do with an SF Public Library card – Including free museum passes, genealogy research, and job resources.
- Ways to get moving outdoors in SF – Including running groups, outdoor gyms, and bike paths.
- Car-free public transportation in SF – Save on gas and parking with Muni, historic SF streetcars, BART, and shuttles.
- Day trips from San Francisco – Make new memories in 2023 with these day trip ideas in NorCal.
- Coolest museum exhibitions to look for in 2023 – Put these must-see exhibitions on your calendar.
Happy New Year, and good luck with those resolutions!