Maungati is a lightly populated locality 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". There are many cabbage trees in the area.

Maungati covers 695.95 km (268.71 sq mi) and had an estimated population of 840 as of June 2024, with a population density of 1.21 people per km.

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
2006	675	—
2013	732	+1.16%
2018	738	+0.16%
Source:

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.