While in many ways, MetroWest is a high-income region with much wealth, people in areas throughout the region struggle to make ends meet. The high cost of living, extremely expensive housing and myriad difficulties with transportation combine to put a financially secure lifestyle out of reach for many residents of MetroWest.

While the region’s overall poverty rate of 8% is below the state and nation, rates are higher in Worcester (10%) and rates are higher among Hispanic (17%) and African American (14%) residents. Education matters: while 20% of residents without a high school diploma had incomes at or below the poverty level, just 3% of those with at least a bachelor’s degree did.

And others living above the poverty threshold struggle to make ends meet. While the overall median household income in MetroWest was $110,000 in 2018-22, median incomes for Hispanic and African American households were substantially lower at $74,000 and $79,000.

In 2021 in MetroWest, to reach the living wage level and be able to pay for necessities, including housing and food, without outside assistance, a family of four with two earners must make a total of $134,200, and a family of three with one earner must make a total of $121,700, certainly out of reach for many of our residents.

Federal food assistance is needed at a high level among some populations. In 2018-22, 25% of Hispanic residents and 22% of African Americans participated in the federal SNAP program, higher than Asian (10%) and White (8%) residents.

And people of color in MetroWest (as well as the state and nation) have less access to financial services. In 2017, unbanked or underbanked rates in the three MetroWest counties are roughly 30-40% among Hispanic and African Americans.

Homeownership is an important factor for neighborhood stability and civic participation and, in 2018-22, the homeownership rate in the MetroWest region was 64%, exceeding  the state rate but lower than the national rate. However, while rates were 69% among Whites and 60% among Asians, they were 36% for African Americans and Hispanics.

Owning a home is simply out of reach for many residents of MetroWest. The ratio of home value to median income was 4.7 in 2018-22, well above the 2-3 range considered affordable. It is even higher in some communities, including Lincoln and Waltham, where the ratio was 7.5 and 6, respectively. Homes were more unaffordable for Latinos (with a ratio of 5.7), African Americans (4.7) and Asians (4.5) than for Whites (4.1).

Rent, too, is unaffordable in some communities, including Westwood, Maynard & Lincoln, which all had rates over 45%, above the 30% considered affordable. People of color in MetroWest paid a larger proportion of their income on rent: 30% for African Americans and 34% for Hispanics, compared to 26% for Asian Americans and 28% for whites.

Homelessness is a growing concern in MetroWest. While the rate has declined from a high in 2014, it was up 25% since 2008, with 4,950 homeless people counted during the annual tally in January in 2022.