Maungaraki

Maungaraki is a suburb of Lower Hutt. It is one of several Lower Hutt suburbs on the western hills of the Hutt Valley. It contains the largest suburban development on the Hutt Valley's western escarpment that runs along the Wellington Fault.

Maungaraki translated from Māori means "northern mountain". This may reference the Māori pā to the south that once stood at Pito-one.

In 2021, Maungaraki was chosen by national news publication Stuff as the best suburb to live in the Wellington region due in part to high sunshine hours, excellent schooling, panoramic views, a diverse population and low crime.

Features of the suburb
The suburb has a shopping centre, a baptist church, and a community hall that is managed by the Maungaraki Community Association. The Church building was relocated from the old NZ Railways works at Moera.

There is one school in the suburb: Maungaraki School, a full primary school on Dowse Drive formed in 1999 by the merger of Puketiro and Otonga schools. Maungaraki also has a kindergarten and playcentre.

Much of Maungaraki falls within Belmont Regional Park, and there are walking tracks from the suburb into the park. Korokoro Dam and its waterfall are both within the park and within Maungaraki.

History
Housing increased rapidly in the area during the 1960s, at the time it was the largest local-government subdivision in New Zealand.

The main road through the suburb, Dowse Drive, honours the Lower Hutt Mayor Percy Dowse (in office: 1950-1970), who led the development of housing in Maungaraki. Most of the other roads in the suburb feature the names of trees. Reese Jones Grove is named after Thomas and Myrtle Reese Jones, a Korokoro farming couple who sold a proportion of their land in Maungaraki to the Lower Hutt City Council in 1957.

Puketiro School opened in 1967 and was situated where Maungaraki School is now. Otonga School opened in 1977 and most of the land which Otonga School occupied is now private housing.

Demographics
Maungaraki statistical area covers 2.12 km2. It had an estimated population of as of  with a population density of  people per km2.

2018 census data
Maungaraki had a population of 3,987 at the 2018 New Zealand census, an increase of 210 people (5.6%) since the 2013 census, and an increase of 435 people (12.2%) since the 2006 census. There were 1,401 households, comprising 1,974 males and 2,010 females, giving a sex ratio of 0.98 males per female. The median age was 37.4 years (compared with 37.4 years nationally), with 858 people (21.5%) aged under 15 years, 666 (16.7%) aged 15 to 29, 1,956 (49.1%) aged 30 to 64, and 504 (12.6%) aged 65 or older.

Ethnicities were 74.2% European/Pākehā, 10.2% Māori, 4.3% Pasifika, 20.6% Asian, and 2.8% other ethnicities. People may identify with more than one ethnicity.

The percentage of people born overseas was 29.6, compared with 27.1% nationally.

Although some people chose not to answer the census's question about religious affiliation, 50.5% had no religion, 34.1% were Christian, 0.3% had Māori religious beliefs, 5.6% were Hindu, 0.9% were Muslim, 1.4% were Buddhist and 2.5% had other religions.

Of those at least 15 years old, 1,110 (35.5%) people had a bachelor's or higher degree, and 312 (10.0%) people had no formal qualifications. The median income was $46,200, compared with $31,800 nationally. 921 people (29.4%) earned over $70,000 compared to 17.2% nationally. The employment status of those at least 15 was that 1,866 (59.6%) people were employed full-time, 414 (13.2%) were part-time, and 87 (2.8%) were unemployed.

Education
Maungaraki School is a co-educational state primary school for Year 1 to 8 students, with a roll of  as of.