It contains the largest suburban development on the Hutt Valley's western escarpment[2] that runs along the Wellington Fault.

[citation needed] 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.

The Church building was relocated from the old NZ Railways works at Moera.

[6][7] Housing increased rapidly in the area during the 1960s, at the time it was the largest local-government subdivision in New Zealand.

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.

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.