Born in Ban Vinai refugee camp in December, 1980, Yang came to Minnesota in the summer of 1987, along with her parents and older sister Der. Yang says that the move to America was necessary for her parents. Her mother suffered six miscarriages after giving birth to her, and with no male heir, her father was being pressured to find a second wife. He even took his younger daughter on trips with him to visit eligible women in the camp. For Yang's parents, leaving Ban Vinai was not only about finding opportunity for their two daughters, but also rescuing themselves from family and cultural pressure.

Yang says that while her sister mastered the English language quickly, she struggled for many years, finally discovering that her gift lay not in the spoken, but in the written word. Yang credits her older sister Der, with awakening an interest within her: "[E]verything was a Chinese movie in her head. So she would read Jack and the Beanstalk...[and] it became a Chinese drama. So in my head it was never Jack and the Beanstalk; it wasn't even Jack, it was a Chinese drama, flying around. That beanstalk wasn't a beanstalk, it was a mountain, and he was going to get this beautiful flower that would make his ailing mother live for a hundred years. And this is the kind of introduction I had to books." Yang also credits her 9th grade English teacher, Mrs. Gallatin, with recognizing and encouraging her talents. Upon graduation from Harding High School in St. Paul, MN, she attended Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota, though she was by no means certain of her future plans when she began her college career.

Yang graduated from Carleton College with a Bachelor degree in American Studies, Women's and Gender Studies, and Cross-cultural Studies. Yang received her Master's of Fine Arts in Creative Nonfiction Writing from Columbia University in New York City.

She has taught in numerous positions across the US. Beginning at age 12, Yang taught English as a second language to adult refugees. As a student, Yang privately tutored students, and taught creative nonfiction writing workshops to professionals, including professors from Rutgers University and New York University. Yang has also taught the fundamentals of writing to students at Concordia University in St. Paul and courses in composition at St. Catherine University. She has been visiting organizations and institutions all over the US on writing. She is currently a professor in the English department at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire for the 2010-2011 academic year.

Kao Kalia Yang has been a recipient of the Page Scholarship by the Page Education Foundation for demonstrated leadership, academic achievement, and community commitment. She has received the Gilman International Award for international spirit and the practice of diplomacy and the Freeman in Asia Scholarship toward the study of international and intra-national models of development. Yang also received Columbia University's School of the Arts Dean's Fellowship for the merit and reaches of her work and also received the Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowship for exceptional leadership, originality and the potential to change the landscape of American society. She is the 2008 recipient of the Spirit of Carleton College Award, and in 2009 The Latehomecomer won Minnesota Book Awards for memoir/creative nonfiction as well as the Reader's Choice Award...the first book to ever win two awards.

Yang was selected as one of few U.S. student delegates to attend the 26th International Achievement Summit. She is also the winner of the Lantern Books 2005 essay contest. Her book has become the best-selling title in Coffee House Press history.

A community activist, Yang is also an entrepreneur, co-founding Words Wanted, one of the first professional Hmong writing services in the United States.