A new YouGov survey explored Americans’ New Year’s resolutions, their thoughts on 2025, and what they’re expecting for 2026. Compared with last year, Americans are more likely to say 2025 was a good or great year for the country, and about three in 10 think 2026 will be a good or great year for the country.
31% of Americans say they will make a New Year’s resolution or set a goal for 2026. Adults under 45 are about twice as likely as older Americans to say they will make a New Year’s resolution (43% vs. 21%).
The most common New Year’s resolution for 2026 — out of 25 included in the survey — is exercising more. 25% of Americans say they’re resolving to do this. Other popular resolutions include being happy (23%), eating healthier (22%), saving more money (21%), and improving physical health (21%).
Last year, the most popular resolution was saving more money, with 26% who were resolving to do this. 22% said they were resolving to exercise more last year.
Adults under 45 are more likely than people over 45 to resolve to save more money (30% vs. 14%), pursue a career goal (17% vs. 2%), improve their mental health (24% vs. 10%), and learn something new (23% vs. 9%).
Women are more likely than men to say their New Year’s resolution is to lose weight (21% vs. 13%) and to be happy (26% vs. 20%).
Among people who are planning to make a resolution for 2026, 39% say it is very likely they will keep their resolution throughout 2026 and 50% say it’s somewhat likely. Only 7% say it’s not very (5%) or not at all (2%) likely.
One-third (32%) of Americans think that when people make New Year’s resolutions, they generally make the upcoming year better for themselves, including 8% who say they make it much better. Only 10% think people who make resolutions are making the upcoming year worse for themselves, and 42% think it doesn’t make the year better or worse.
Among people who plan to make a New Year’s resolution for 2026, 63% think people generally make the upcoming year better for themselves when they make resolutions. Among people who don’t plan to make resolutions, only 14% say the same.
The survey also explored how Americans felt about the past year, and what they’re predicting for 2026.
As was the case in 2024, Americans are more likely to say 2025 was a good or great year for them personally than for the country (38% vs. 24%). One-quarter (25%) say it was a bad or terrible year for them personally and about twice as many (49%) say 2025 was a bad or terrible year for the country.
Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to say it was a good or great year for them personally (54% vs. 27%) and for the country (49% vs. 6%).
Far fewer Republicans said 2024 was a good or great year for the country than say this about 2025 (10% vs. 49%). Last year, 27% of Democrats said it had been a good or great year for the country, far more than the 6% who say this about 2025.
43% of Americans — including 73% of Democrats and 14% of Republicans — think 2025 was one of the worst years in American history. 12% of Americans think it was one of the best years in American history; just 2% of Democrats and 26% of Republicans say this.
About half (49%) of Americans predict 2026 will be a good or great year for them personally; a smaller share (31%) think it will be a good or great year for the country. Only 6% of Americans think it will be a terrible year for them personally and about four times as many (23%) think it will be a terrible year for the country.
Democrats are much more likely than Republicans to think it will be a terrible year for the country (35% vs. 6%).
27% of Americans think 2026 will be one of the worst years in American history. A similar share (31%) think it will be about average when it comes to American history, and 21% think it will be one of the best years in American history. Republicans are much more likely than Democrats to say 2026 will be one of the best years in American history (46% vs. 5%).
Related:
- What Democrats and Republicans thought of 2024 and what they expect in 2025
- What are Americans’ New Year’s resolutions for 2025?
- Two in five Americans say they always stay up to ring in the New Year
See the results for this YouGov survey
— Carl Bialik and Taylor Orth contributed to this article
Methodology: This article includes results from an online survey conducted on December 9 - 11, 2025 among 1,104 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 4 percentage points.
Image: Getty (Alexandr Kolesnikov)
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