The primary objective of this study was to investigate the effect of the education status of the household head on the overall household income in the South African context. The study used a positivism research philosophy and explanatory design. The study utilized the General Household Survey (GHS) data, which was downloaded from the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU) database known as DataFirst. Statistics South Africa employed a stratified two-stage sampling method. In the initial stage, primary sampling units were selected based on probability proportional to size, while in the subsequent stage, dwelling units were chosen using systematic sampling techniques. A total of 19,351 household heads participated in data collection, which commenced on the 1st of May and continued to the 1st of December 2022. Stata 14.0 was used to estimate the conventional quantile regression, whereas Stata 18.0 was utilized to estimate the instrumental quantile regression. The key findings show that the household head’s years of schooling were positively correlated with the overall household income across all quantiles. In light of this evidence,
it is essential for government and private entities to strengthen educational investment through targeted financial assistance for disadvantaged households.