Joel Yancey (October 21, 1773 – April 1838) was a United States representative from Kentucky. He was born in Albemarle County, Virginia. Later, he moved to Kentucky. He owned slaves. Yancey was a member of the Kentucky House of Representatives 1809–1811. He also served in the Kentucky Senate 1816–1820 and 1824–1827.
Yancey was elected as a Jacksonian to the Twentieth and Twenty-first Congresses (March 4, 1827 – March 3, 1831). While in Congress, he served as chairman, Committee on Expenditures in the Post Office Department (Twenty-first Congress). He was an unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1830 to the Twenty-second Congress. Yancey died in Barren County, Kentucky in April 1838 and was buried in that county.