 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%.There is a tribal presence in many of the CD blocks of the district.Santali was spoken by around 14% of the population of the earlier Manbhum district.