According to 2011 census, Perambalur had a population of 49,648 with a sex-ratio of 1,013 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 5,190 were under the age of six, constituting 2,678 males and 2,512 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 29.43% and .29% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 80.77%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The town had a total of 12732 households. There were a total of 18,430 workers, comprising 998 cultivators, 1,746 main agricultural labourers, 364 in house hold industries, 13,762 other workers, 1,560 marginal workers, 49 marginal cultivators, 390 marginal agricultural labourers, 78 marginal workers in household industries and 1,043 other marginal workers. As per the religious census of 2011, Perambalur had 86.94% Hindus, 9.29% Muslims, 3.6% Christians, 0.01% Sikhs, 0.01% Buddhists, 0.0% Jains, 0.12% following other religions and 0.03% following no religion or did not indicate any religious preference.