Oriya is the Principal language of the district. Other modern Indian languages spoken by the people of Sambalpur district are Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Telugi, Gujurati, Panjabi and Tamil. Tribal languages like Kisan, Kui, Oraon, Kharia etc. are also popularly spoken by the tribal population of the district.
The language spoken in Sambalpur differs from that spoken in the Costal Districts of Orissa. It is generally known as Sambalpuri and is spoken in Western part of Orissa.