Inequality is growing worse in the MetroWest region, the corridor of communities west of Boston that are roughly between Route 128 and Interstate 495, according to a report released Wednesday by the Foundation for MetroWest.

Some of the data compiled in the report, called Impact MetroWest, paint an idyllic picture. There is a lot of protected land in MetroWest. There is a strong economy with low unemployment. There is a significant number of high-tech jobs, which help bring money to the region, and crime rates are decreasing.

However, the report also shows that many MetroWest residents face severe financial hardship. Homelessness has increased by 45 percent since 2007, with more than 6,200 homeless residents in MetroWest. Nine percent of individuals in MetroWest live below the Federal Poverty Level. That includes the 8 percent of children who live in poverty, and is reflected in school test scores. The majority of the data used in the report were from the years ranging 2000 to 2018 and all were obtained from official sources, according to the Foundation.

The report defines MetroWest as comprising of 39 communities, many of them affluent towns like Carlisle, Wellesley and Weston, but also includes the economically diverse cities of Marlborough, Framingham and Waltham.

“When you look at MetroWest, you think of it as being a very affluent area that has great schools, lots of open spaces — it’s a wonderful place to live and raise your family,” said Judy Salerno, executive director of the Foundation for MetroWest. “But on the other side of that is that, if nearly 10 percent of our population is living at the Federal Poverty [Level], it means that we collectively have a responsibility [to act].”

Salerno said that her organization, which is a locally-focused philanthropy, has known about the income inequality facing the region for a long time. But it undertook this report in large part so that there was data to demonstrate the divide.

“In a community that has such a wide gap, it is often hard to explain and make clear to individuals who have the capacity to support their neighbors that there really is a need that exists here,” she said.

These numbers are not a surprise for Amanda Elkin, the assistant director of Family Promise MetroWest. For the past 10 years, her organization has helped families that are struggling with homelessness despite the parents being employed. Over that time, she said, she has noticed an increasing number of families struggling with the “skyrocketing cost of housing in this region.”

“We have seen more and more referrals coming in from working families who simply can’t afford rent anymore, and these families are being forced to stay in our shelter longer and longer,” said Elkin, whose organization was not involved in the Impact MetroWest report but, like many nonprofits in the area, has received funding from the Foundation for MetroWest.

Elkin said the average stay in their shelter, when the organization was founded in 2009, was in the three- or four-month range. “Now we are seeing families who are staying more like nine to 10 months in shelter, which, as you can imagine, is incredibly difficult for families with young children,” she said.

Salerno also attributed much of the poverty in MetroWest to the high cost of living. She said even if residents are not homeless or living below the Federal Poverty Level, they can find it challenging to provide food for their family because so much of their income is going to housing and transportation.

The Impact MetroWest report also found the population is growing rapidly and the demographics are changing significantly. The population is aging, with the number of people ages 60 to 84 increasing by 37 percent since 2000, and the number of people 85 and over increasing by 36 percent in the same time period.

There has been a big change in the racial makeup of the MetroWest population, which the Foundation for MetroWest estimates is at 700,000 people. Asian, African American and Hispanic populations have all nearly doubled in the past 20 years, including nearly one in four individuals speaking a language other than English at home.

The results of the report will be updated every two years. Caroline Murphy, the Foundation for MetroWest’s director of programs, said this will hopefully allow them to see whether the programs they help fund are making a difference.