Languages: Local dialect is Cebuano but majority can speak and understand Tagalog and English. Most Chinese descendants speak Fookien. There are Korean and Japanese migrants, very few German. Other dialects are Maranaw, Higaunon (the language of the original settlers), Ilongo, and Waray.

Religion. Almost 80 percent of the population are Roman Catholics. The rest are either liberal or conservative Protestants, such as Baptists, Seventh Day Adventists, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Iglesia Ni Kristo, and Philippine Independent Church. There is a small but growing population of Muslims. Fewer are Buddhists and Hindus.

Average annual family income and expenditure in 2003: Php 89,640.00 and PhP 70,989.00, respectively.

Labor force. Misamis Oriental is the educational center of Northern Mindanao, with major schools concentrated in Cagayan de Oro. Young, highly skilled workforce is available. A survey by the National Statistics Office in January 2008 gives the following data:

• Labor force: 2,615,000
• Employed: 2,476,000
• Unemployed: 139,000
• Employment rate: 94.7 percent
• Unemployment rate: 5.3 percent

Many families in the Philippines have members working abroad. Because of their huge dollar remittances, these Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) are hailed as "new heroes". The CIA World Factbook reports that the Philippine GDP grew at seven percent in 2007 partly because of "higher government spending ... a resilient service sector and large remittances from the millions of Filipinos who work abroad ...."