Maungati is a lightly populated locality^[3] situated approximately 18 miles southwest of Timaru in the Canterbury region of New Zealand's South Island. It is a small farming community in an area with primarily sheep and cattle farming and some deer farming, and it has a 9-hole golf course and Māori rock drawings.

Maungati comes from the Māori language words "maunga", meaning "mountain", and "tī", meaning "cabbage tree", and thus means "mountain of cabbage tree".^[4] There are many cabbage trees in the area.

Maungati covers 695.95 km² (268.71 sq mi)^[1] and had an estimated population of 810 as of June 2023,^[2] with a population density of 1.16 people per km².

Maungati had a population of 738 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 6 people (0.8%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 63 people (9.3%) since the 2006 census. There were 279 households, comprising 384 males and 351 females, giving a sex ratio of 1.09 males per female. The median age was 37.5 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 177 people (24.0%) aged under 15 years, 111 (15.0%) aged 15 to 29, 375 (50.8%) aged 30 to 64, and 69 (9.3%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 91.9% European/Pākehā, 5.7% Māori, 1.2% Pasifika, 2.8% Asian, and 3.7% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 15.4, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 54.9% had no religion, 38.6% were Christian, 0.4% had Māori religious beliefs, 0.4% were Buddhist and 0.8% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 105 (18.7%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 96 (17.1%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $38,500, compared with $31,800 nationally. 111 people (19.8%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 357 (63.6%) people were employed full-time, 99 (17.6%) were part-time, and 9 (1.6%) were unemployed.^[5]