Standard & Poors recently reported that the “percentage of dividend income as personal income has steadily increased from 2.8% in 1988 to 6.7% in 2007”, a plus-200% gain. During this same period, interest income has shrunk from 15.03% of personal income to 10.41% in 2007. Personal dividend income will continue to increase in importance, generating even greater demand for income-producing stocks in the coming years, fueled by the increased numbers of investors owning equities, and by the coming surge in boomer retirees.

Unfortunately for us dividend yield seekers, our hunt for dividend income has become harder than ever in 2009, as record numbers of companies eliminate or drastically reduce their payouts in order to conserve cash, and sectors we once depended upon for income have imploded. Just when the retiring boomers need dividend income more than ever, the dynamics of this game have changed drastically, taking away some of the key players.

The financial sector used to account for more than 30% of the dividend payouts on the S&P, but now account for only 9.6%. All told, financials account for 31 of the 51 reductions and suspensions this year, and not one financial company remains in the S&P list of the top 25 dividend payers in 2009.

In fact, the ranks of dividend paying stocks have thinned out so dramatically that the top 28 dividend-paying stocks account for more than half of the dividends paid out in 2009.

Here's a list of the top 5 dividend paying stocks for 2009, ranked by total cash payouts? It turns out that 3 of them are energy companies, 1 is a telecom, and 1 is a conglomerate: