A report has highlighted a strong link in Western Australia between disadvantage and poor access to the internet.

The research also found people living in the most disadvantaged areas of WA were eight times more likely to have spent time in prison.

The Dropping off the Edge report ranks local government areas by a range of measures linked to quality of life, including access to jobs, education, medical services, internet and involvement in the criminal system.

In WA, the communities that ranked the most poorly are clustered in the Kimberley, the Gascoyne and the Goldfields.

The report was commissioned by Catholic Social Services Australia, and CEO Marcelle Mogg said the results in WA reflected the trend nationally.

"Remote and regional communities suffer to a greater degree than urban communities in the main," she said.

"What is quite striking is that the degree of disadvantage in WA is quite stark between the 3 per cent of the most disadvantaged communities and the wider population - the remaining 97 per cent."

Different patterns emerged in each state and territory, but in WA, the most reliable indicator of disadvantage was areas with poor access to the internet.

'These are services you'd take for granted in the city'

The news didn't come as a surprise to the president of the Shire of Derby-West Kimberley, which was one of seven local governments included in the "most disadvantaged" category.

Elsia Archer said while people love living in Derby and the surrounding communities, many were doing it tough.

"It's something we've been saying for a long time. We are disadvantaged, and we don't get a lot of the services that people take for granted in the metropolitan areas," she said.

"This [report] may help us put our hand up to government and say, 'help us please'."

She said things like childcare, internet connections, and job opportunities were limited.

"These are services you'd take for granted in the city, but they aren't necessarily in our shire," she said.

"With things like childcare, in the city you may have several childcare options where you can put your children in, but we've only got one and there's a huge waiting list.

"That really affects people who are wanting to work because mum or dad has to stay home to look after the children."

She said both state and federal governments were aware of the need for increased investment in WA's remote towns, but the funding often did not translate into results.

"Sometimes instead of funding things for a jolly year, fund them for three years, so you can get some good out of it," she said.

"We find a lot of programs are funded for a year, and nothing jolly well happens because it takes a year to get a program off the ground and that seems to happen a lot with government."

The most disadvantaged areas in WA are Derby-West Kimberley, Halls Creek, Meekatharra, Menzies, Mt Magnet, Ngaanyatjarraku and Wyndham-East Kimberley.

They were followed by Beverley, Broome, Kellerberrin, Laverton, Mullewa, Murchison, Tammin, Trayning, Upper Gascoyne and Wiluna.