Women continue to earn less than men, while seniors are the group most reliant on financial assistance.These were two of the findings highlighted in an analytical brief released yesterday by the Department of Statistics, based on data from the 2010 Census.The brief said Bermuda’s total personal income received from all sources by the population 16 years and older reached $3.5 billion in 2010 — up from $2.1 billion at the time of the previous census in 2000.The increase in personal income during that decade was 66 percent, outstripping the estimated 36 percent rise in the cost of living during the period, the Department added.Women‘s median income of $56,134 was nine percent lower than that of men at $60,963. However the figures showed that the pay gap between the genders narrowed between 2000 and 2010, as female income rose 50 percent during the decade, while male income rose 36 percent.The report also highlighted the fact that seniors were twice as likely as others to have received financial assistance.“Recognising that the latest population projections show that the proportion of our seniors is expected to increase from 13 percent of the total population in 2010 to 22 percent by 2030, a greater amount of financial assistance will likely be needed in the future if this trend continues,” the report adds. The median income from financial assistance among those receiving it was $11,611.Seniors were the age group with the lowest income, pulling in a median income of $29,643 in 2010 — just over half the median income of the population as a whole.Total median household income in 2010 was $103,657, up 44 percent from ten years earlier, with two-parent households proving the best off with income of $170,127, while one-parent households took in $84,555 and single-person households $60,877.The survey broke incomes down by race and Bermudian status. It showed that blacks’ median income was $54,875, compared to $71,506 for whites. Bermudians took in median income of $56,219 compared $67,390 for non-Bermudians.The survey also illustrated a clear correlation between income from a main job and level of education.“In 2010, doctoral degree holders earned more than twice as much as persons with high school certificates and master’s degree holders earned nearly twice as much as high school graduates,” the report states.“Furthermore, bachelor's degree holders earned 35 percent more than diploma / associate degree holders, underscoring the direct correlation between obtaining a degree and higher earnings received from main job.”High school certificate holders earned median income of $53,031, trailing technical or vocational certificate holders ($57,602), associate degree holders ($63,817), bachelor’s degree holders ($85,995), master’s degree holders ($100,511) and those with a doctoral degree ($117,730).Income from the main job comprised 80 percent of total personal income, while rental income (nine percent) was a distant second.Bermudians had a much greater reliance on rental income (12.1 percent) than non-Bermudians (one percent). Seniors reported a greater proportion of their income from rent (24.5 percent) than any other group.The economy boomed during most of the decade between 2000 and 2010, fuelled by an influx of new insurance companies after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005, and a construction boom.Copies of the census analytical brief are available on the Department of Statistics website at www.statistics.gov.bm. Additionally, copies can be obtained from its office at the Cedar Park Centre, 3rd Floor, 48 Cedar Avenue, Hamilton.