According to the 2011 census Jamtara district has a population of 791,042,[3] roughly equal to the nation of Comoros[4] or the US state of South Dakota.

[3] The district has a population density of 439 inhabitants per square kilometre (1,140/sq mi).

[3] Jamtara has a sex ratio of 959 females for every 1000 males,[3] and a literacy rate of 64.59%.

[3] Languages of Jamtara district (2011)[6] At the time of the 2011 Census of India, 30.18% of the population spoke Bengali, 29.10% Santali, 27.93% Khortha, 5.92% Hindi, 3.61% Urdu and 1.25% Magahi as their first language.

[6] In 2006 the Indian government named Jamtara one of the country's 250 most backward districts (out of a total of 640).