Crime has leveled out, but Philadelphia still can’t catch a break when it comes to end-of-the-year statistical roundups. In a recent study conducted by 24/7 Wall Street, Philadelphia ranked the poorest county in the state — which seems exceptional, the report notes, as the overwhelming majority of impoverished counties were those with smaller populations.

The study offers some familiar disheartening Philly facts: the city ranks below national standards of home ownership (compare 65 percent to 53 percent) and median household income. And of course, our oft-cited 26.5 percent poverty rate ranks the one of the highest among large American cities.

These are, of course, true for both Philadelphia and the county of the same name. To speak of one is to speak of both. So then, is it fair to lump Philadelphia County, Pennsylvania, and, say, Wadena County, Minnesota into the same category? Surely, there are some shared characteristics among all strata of poverty, nonetheless, Philadelphia County’s poverty is unique — Philadelphia County is the largest consolidated city-county in the U.S.

It’s a knee-jerk reaction to compare it to New York City, whose five boroughs are coextensive with a county. With one of the lowest high school diploma-attainment rates in the nation, Bronx County ranks more down-and-out than the post-industrially depressed areas of upstate New York like Franklin County, and yet the Big Apple’s reputation isn’t marred by the Bronx’s dismal numbers.

Maybe it’s a bad example, but in terms of understanding its county-vs-city poverty, maybe looking at Philadelphia’s entire metro area is analogous to looking at all of the boroughs in New York City. Philadelphia County covers 143 square miles, but its tax bases are split across county lines, with inordinate numbers of intercounty commuters paying wage and residency taxes in different zones.

Chester and Montgomery Counties have the highest incomes per capita in the state. Lower Merion Township ranks second wealthiest nationally in locales with a population over 40,000. It’s difficult to deny that this suburban prosperity in the Philly Metro isn’t connected to the city’s socioeconomic status — not just its business opportunities, but its poverty and all that entails. The fragile equilibrium of the Delaware Valley can’t be represented by county-by-county comparison.