January Kristen Jones was born in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, on January 5, 1978, the daughter of store manager Karen Cox and exercise physiologist Marvin Jones. She was named after January Wayne, a character in the 1973 Jacqueline Susann novel Once Is Not Enough. She has two sisters, Jina and Jacey. Her family moved to Hecla, South Dakota, in 1979 but in 1986 returned to Sioux Falls, where she graduated from Roosevelt High School.
Jones appeared in the AMC original television drama series Mad Men (2007–2015) for seven seasons as suburban housewife and mother Betty Draper. She received two Golden Globe nominations and one Emmy nomination for her performances.
Jones is also known for her role as Cadence Flaherty, the love interest of both Steve Stifler and Paul Finch in the 2003 comedy film American Wedding, the third installment of the American Pie film series. She played a con artist in the Law & Order episode "Quit Claim" who, as the lone surviving suspect connected to a real estate scam involving organized crime, frustrates the efforts of Assistant District Attorney Michael Cutter to convict her. She also appeared in The Boat That Rocked, a British film about offshore pirate radio in the 1960s, renamed Pirate Radio for North American release in 2009.
Jones was ranked 82nd on the Maxim Hot 100 Women of 2002. She appeared on the cover of "The Hot Issue" of British GQ magazine in May 2009. She appeared on the cover of the November 2009 issue of American GQ magazine, and has been a "topic" in the magazine several times. On November 14, 2009, Jones hosted an episode of Saturday Night Live with musical guest The Black Eyed Peas.
Jones appeared as Melissa Chartres in the Fox television comedy series The Last Man on Earth (2015–18). In 2019, she joined the cast of Netflix's comedy-drama series The Politician, playing bored, rich housewife Lizbeth Sloan. In 2020, Jones joined the cast of the Netflix series Spinning Out as Carol Baker, a former figure skater and single mother who has bipolar disorder. The series concluded after one season.
Charity work
In 2009, Jones joined the marine conservation organization Oceana as a celebrity spokesperson, working to save endangered sharks and to inform others about sharks' vital importance in nature. She has gone swimming with sharks for a public service announcement for the group. She served food with fellow actress Malin Åkerman at the Los Angeles Mission's annual Thanksgiving event on November 24, 2021.
One of Jones's favorite actors is Robert Stack. During her relationship with Jim Carrey in 2002, Carrey gave her Stack's autograph as a birthday present.
She was in a relationship with singer Josh Groban from 2003 to 2006.
She dated actor Jason Sudeikis in 2010. In January 2011, People reported that they had split. In September 2011, she gave birth to a son whose father's identity was not publicly disclosed.
Jones has an interest in unsolved mysteries and believes she has seen a UFO. She has a tattoo that says "Bellatrix", the Latin word for female warrior.
In 2025, Jones disclosed that she has experienced misophonia since she was a teenager and that the condition has worsened over time.
