According to 2011 census, Vedaranyam had a population of 34,266 with a sex-ratio of 1,068 females for every 1,000 males, much above the national average of 929. A total of 3,261 were under the age of six, constituting 1,711 males and 1,550 females. Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 14.91% and .2% of the population respectively. The average literacy of the town was 77.86%, compared to the national average of 72.99%. The town had a total of : 8665 households. There were a total of 12,694 workers, comprising 835 cultivators, 912 main agricultural labourers, 98 in house hold industries, 3,440 other workers, 7,409 marginal workers, 421 marginal cultivators, 2,277 marginal agricultural labourers, 175 marginal workers in household industries and 4,536 other marginal workers. As per the religious census of 2011, Vedaranyam had 90.17% Hindus, 8.93% Muslims, 0.74% Christians, 0.09% Jains and 0.07% following other religions. The primary economic activities of the region are salt-manufacturing, fishing, salt water prawn culture and agriculture. Saltpans (crystallisers) are spread over along the coastline, including those of small, medium and large salt manufacturers. According to estimates, about 3.5 lakh tonnes of salt is produced annually in the region. The salt industry employs around 20,000 people. Some of the major private companies like Chemplast Sanmar, Vedaranyam Marine Products have salt manufacturing units in Vedaranyam. Salt manufacturing, the traditional occupation of the town, has been overshadowed by prawn cultivation since the 90s. All major nationalized banks such as Indian Bank, Canara Bank and Indian Overseas Bank and private banks like City Union Bank have their branches in Vedaranyam. Vedaranyam is administered by a second grade municipality. It was originally declared a third grade municipality on 28 August 2004 and promoted to a second grade municipality on 9 August 2010. The municipality has 21 wards and there is an elected councillor for each of those wards. The municipality has 3 revenue villages namely Vedaranyam, Thoputhurai and Agasthyanpalli. The functions of the municipality are devolved into five departments: General administration, Engineering, Revenue, Public Health and Town planning. All these departments are under the control of a Municipal Commissioner who is the supreme executive head.