First known as Grayson, the town changed its name in 1914 when a wealthy easterner, Thomas W. Bicknell, offered a thousand-volume library to any town that would adopt his name. Grayson competed with Thurber, Utah for the prize. Grayson was renamed Blanding after the maiden name of Bicknell's wife, and each of the towns received 500 books. On the morning of June 10, 2009, sixteen Blanding residents were arrested in more than a dozen raids performed by federal agents and indicted as part of an undercover investigation of violations of the Archeological Resources Protection Act. Eight others from around the Four Corners region were also indicted. The raid was the largest undercover sting of its kind in the country. The raid was the conclusion of a two-year investigation by FBI and BLM agents code-named "Cerberus Action" in which an undercover agent was able to purchase 256 artifacts for $335,685. One indicted resident, Dr. James DeMar Redd, died by suicide on June 11. The undercover agent, Ted Gardiner, died by suicide on March 1, 2010.
As of the census of 2010, there were 3,375 people, 1,013 households, and 785 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,332.7 people per square mile. There were 1,110 housing units at an average density of 417.7 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 66.1% White, 0.3% African American, 29.4% Native American, 0.09% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander,.5% from other races, and 3.3% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.8% of the population. There were 1,013 households out of which 43.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59% were married couplesliving together, 14.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.5% were non-families. 20.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.19 and the average family size was 3.71. In the city, the population was spread out with 39.2% under the age of 19, 9.87% from 20 to 24, 22% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 11.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 26.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.3 males. The median income for a household in the city was $43,946, and the median income for a family was $50,833. Males had a median income of $42,667 versus $21,615 for females. About 14.1% of families and 11.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 34.0% of those under age 18 and 10.9% of those age 65 or over.
