European Americans associated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints named the town in honor of chief Tuuvi, a Hopi man from Oraibi.

The Navajo name for this community, Tó Naneesdizí, translates as "tangled waters".

Tuba City is located within the Painted Desert near the western edge of the Navajo Nation.

The community was first documented by Spanish explorers: Father Francisco Garcés visited the area in 1776, and recorded that the Hopi were cultivating crops.

They named the town after Tuuvi, a Hopi man who converted to Mormonism circa 1870.

He had invited the Mormons to settle near his village of Moenkopi without requiring them to gain individual permission.

The regional office for the Rare Metals Corporation was established here, which founded a mill for processing.

[7] The mill closed in 1966, before environmental regulations were passed to protect the local people and resources.

[9] In 2023, the Tuba City Entrepreneurship Hub opened, sponsored by Change Labs, a Native-led nonprofit supporting entrepreneurship on tribal land through free work spaces for entrepreneurs, vendors, and artists within Native communities.

[10] It features community gardens raised by local farmers in the Change Labs program.

[11] According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 8.9 square miles (23 km2), all land.

[12] Geologically, Tuba City is sited about the Glen Canyon Group from the early Jurassic (about 180–210 Ma) and on modern superficial Quaternary deposits.

Tuba City is located in the rain shadow of the Mogollon Rim, which keeps out moisture from the Gulf of California.

The majority of winters do not have measurable snowfall due to the dryness of the air descending from mountains to the south.

[27] Tertiary institutions include Diné College Tuba City Center[28]