Affordability is a common accolade for Philly. It’s heard from old-timers and newcomers alike, as well as from those on the odd quest of forever-comparing-Philly-to-NYC. But depending on how you look at the data, the story goes the other way. Today, Forbes released its study of metro areas with populations over 600,000 and ranked Philly as the 24th most overpriced city in the country.

Right away there’s a problem. The headline reads “overpriced cities” when the study more accurately looks at metro areas.

The methodology appears straightforward. First, they compared housing affordability (Housing Opportunity Index) numbers with cost of living (Sperling’s Best Places, which includes food, utilities, transportation, and other daily expenses). Then they balanced these figures for each metro area against the Consumer Price Index in which housing comprises 32 percent of average consumer spending. But Forbes then admits that they puffed up this last number a little bit — they didn’t say how much — noting that “housing is important expense to most people.”

And what exactly does “overpriced” mean? Overpriced for the poor? What constitutes this term would require examining a whole slew of different data sets, weighing numerous angles, and then acknowledging the subjectivity of the word. As is, the article just praises Boston, rips on California, and then concludes with its list of cities by their numbers. If it feels inconclusive, it’s because it is. And get this:

“Perhaps the Most Overpriced list, as we call it, might better be dubbed simply Most Expensive.”

Yes, that’s the last sentence of the article. They might as well have said “We know this could have been way more thorough and accurately titled, but at the end of the day, click bait.”

Philly has affordability issues, but understanding them takes nuance, and looking at specific problem areas rather than a metro-sized tract of land. There are such studies published on the issue specific to Philly. For starters, check out Next City’s piece from last year that argues Philly’s affordability problem is a question of income and not housing prices. And lastly, always hold your journalists accountable to click bait headlines and shoddy research.