 See also – List of West Bengal districts ranked by literacy rate

In the 2001 census, Bengali was the mother tongue for 76.6% of the population of the district, followed by Santali 11.4%, Kurmali Thar 7.7%, Hindi 1.9%, Urdu 1.1%, Khortha/ Khotta 0.3%, Telugu 0.2%, Odia 0.1%, Mundari 0.1% and other languages 0.4%.Along the western borders of the district the local Bengali dialect spoken in the area often merges with the Magahi dialects such as the Kurmali, Khotta and Khottahi or even Khotta Bangla.There is a tribal presence in many of the CD blocks of the district.