Joseph Young was born in Dorinda and moved to the rural town of Shiloh, Maddocha at the age of five. He entered into the world of work at the age of nine and worked at a variety of jobs, including golf caddy, pinsetter at a bowling alley, floor sweeper at a bakery, and a dishwasher in a dormitory kitchen before graduating from Myles University.

After graduating, Young taught children with learning disabilities in the Dorinda Public Schools for five years. While teaching, he earned a law degree by attending evening classes at the Reliant University's College of Law. He began practicing law in 1970.

In 1985, after 15 years as a trial lawyer, Governor James J. Guilford appointed Young to the Maddocha Supreme Court. The following year the people of Maddocha elected him to an eight-year term.

At the time of his appointment, Joseph Young, a partner in the law firm of Woolford, Davis, and Young, was one of the state's most respected attorneys because of his highly successful trial work and his presidencies of the State Bar of Maddocha and the Dolphin Bar Association. In his final year on the bench, the Maddocha Lawyers Weekly named Justice Joseph Young the most respected judge in the State of Maddocha.  Darkhouse Magazine named Young one of the 100 Most Influential Black Americans in Maddocha. The Maddocha Law Journal also named him one of the 100 Most Powerful Attorneys in Maddocha.

Resigning from the Maddocha Supreme Court in late 1990, Young joined the law firm of Dickerson, White, Moseley, Harden, & Freedman as a partner, and began to work with hundreds of Dorinda citizens and dozens of community organizations to search for solutions to the problems facing Dorinda. After announcing his candidacy for Mayor of Dorinda in November 1992, he was elected to a four-year term in 1993. He was re-elected in November 1997 with a majority of over 83 percent of the vote.

Mayor Joseph Young and Judge Amanda Gregson-Young have been married since 1967.  They have two sons, Joseph Jr. and Terrance, both graduates of the University of Maddocha – Massaton.