“Affordable housing” is as big of a buzzword at City Hall as “Halloween candy” is in my household. So, city leaders don’t need any extra push to work on the affordable housing issue, but they have gotten a national reminder anyway. A new report is out that lists Lawrence as the most expensive city in the state of Kansas.

The financial news site 24/7 Wall Street — which provides its content to large national sites like USA Today, MSN, Time and others — has listed the most expensive city in every state, based on 2014 cost of living data from the federal Bureau of Economic Analysis.

The report, which was getting big billing on MSN.com earlier this week, has good news and bad news in it for Lawrence. The good news is that the cost of living in Lawrence is 5.7 percent less than the national average. So, it is still cheaper to live in Lawrence than in lots of other places in the country. However, lots of those other places are not in Kansas. The report found the average cost of living in a Kansas community is 9.3 percent less expensive than the national average. So, a little math tells us that Lawrence is about 3.6 percent more expensive than the average Kansas place.

Although that is not a great number for Lawrence, it isn’t terrible either. Sometimes when you hear people talk about Lawrence you would think it costs 30 percent more to live here than elsewhere in Kansas, not 3 percent. Think of it this way: If Lawrence residents just made 3 percent more than the average Kansan, Lawrence’s higher prices essentially would be negated. But that’s not the case. Instead, Lawrence’s median household income is about 15 percent lower than the statewide average.

In other words, if Lawrence has an affordability problem, it may not be because goods and services cost so much more here. It may be because we just make less money than other communities. I know this is not a new revelation, but it is one I find worth repeating nonetheless.

One other point to note about this report: I’m not sure it really can definitively state that Lawrence is the most expensive city in the state. I think it would be more accurate to state that it is the most expensive metro area in the state of Kansas. The report’s authors didn’t look at every city in the state, but rather every metro area. That’s significant because every Johnson County community is included in the Kansas City metro area, which for the purposes of this study was counted toward Missouri. I still think it is more expensive, for instance, to live in Overland Park. I would guess that’s definitely the case for a place like Mission Hills, which I’m pretty sure is a real place, but can’t confirm because every time my old beat-up F150 and I ask for directions, we end up in Edgerton.

But there are other numbers that put Lawrence’s cost of living into perspective. The U.S. Census Bureau last month released new 2015 figures for cities greater than 65,000 in population. So, here’s a look at some data related to housing, rentals, and incomes: (Note: Manhattan, one of my favorite cities to compare us with, isn’t large enough to have been included in this latest Census report.)

Median value of owner-occupied housing

• Lawrence: $179,100

• Overland Park: $249,000

• Olathe: $207,700

• Topeka: $102,800

• Wichita: $124,400

Median rent

• Lawrence: $814

• Overland Park: $1,022

• Olathe: $912

• Topeka: $744

• Wichita: $734

Median household income:

• Lawrence: $46,564

• Overland Park: $81,144

• Olathe: $80,242

• Topeka: $43,860

• Wichita: $46,894

• Kansas: $53,906

Make of those numbers what you will. Certainly, Lawrence’s household income numbers are affected some by Lawrence being a university community that has lots of students who don’t earn full-time livings. But that doesn’t account for all the difference. As we’ve reported, there’s also some reason to believe Lawrence has an inordinate amount of part-time employees even for a university community.

One thing the numbers tell me is that it may not be accurate to say Lawrence is the most expensive city in the state. Clearly, housing and other goods cost more in Johnson County.

Measuring how expensive an item is only looks at its cost. Measuring how affordable something is also looks at your ability to pay for it. It seems like that is where Lawrence’s struggles are. Perhaps it is an obvious distinction to everyone. Hopefully it is clear to those who are studying affordable housing issues in Lawrence because trying to make housing cheaper in Lawrence will require one set of strategies while trying to raise incomes will require a different set.