  Scalar-tensor theories have taken on a key role in attempts to confront the
growing open questions in standard cosmology. It is important to understand
entirely their dynamics at perturbative level including any possible spatial
dependence in their growth of large scale structures. In this work, we
investigate the spatial dependence of the growth rate of scalar-tensor theories
through the M\'{e}sz\'{a}ros equation. We confirm that at subhorizon level this
dependence does not play a major role for viable models. However, we establish
conditions on which this criterion is met which may be important for developing
new models. In our work, we consider three specific models that exhibit spatial
dependence of the growth rate at subhorizon modes, which may also be important
for early Universe models.
