How many Americans are sticking to their New Year's resolutions in 2023?

Linley SandersData Journalist
February 09, 2023, 9:56 PM GMT+0

Three-quarters of Americans who set a 2023 resolution appear to be sticking to their goals — at least for the most part, according to a new YouGov poll.

About one-third of Americans (35%) say they made a New Year’s resolution or set a goal for 2023. That's a similar share to the 37% of people who said in a mid-December poll that they intended to start the new year with a specific objective. Three in four Americans who made resolutions (76%) say they have stuck to them entirely (22%) or mostly (54%). Another 16% have either mostly given up (13%) or quit entirely (3%).

Going into the new year, the most popular resolutions among people who said they would either set a goal or who were unsure were to improve physical health (20%), save more money (20%), exercise more (19%), or eat healthier (18%). Those remained the four most common resolutions among people who say they chose one, with each of those resolutions having been committed to by 14% of Americans.

People who say they chose the most common resolutions say they mostly are sticking with them. At least three-quarters of Americans who chose each of the four goals are at least mostly keeping up with it: 82% for saving money, 81% for exercising more or being happier, 80% for eating healthier, 76% for improving physical health, and 75% for losing weight.

— Carl Bialik contributed to this article

Related: What are Americans' New Year's resolutions for 2023?

Methodology: This poll was conducted online on February 3 - 5, 2023 among 1,000 U.S. adult citizens. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel using sample matching. A random sample (stratified by gender, age, race, education, geographic region, and voter registration) was selected from the 2019 American Community Survey. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given prior to March 15, 2022, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (33% Democratic, 28% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 3%.

Image: Adobe Stock

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