WASHINGTON, Sept 15 (Reuters) - U.S. median household income rose 6.8 percent last year to $68,700, while the number of people living in poverty dropped, the government said in a report on Tuesday that offered a snapshot of the economy before millions of American jobs were destroyed by the coronavirus pandemic.

The U.S. Census Bureau, in an annual report, said the U.S. poverty rate fell by 1.3 percentage points to 10.5 percent in 2019. It said 34 million Americans were in poverty, a decline of 4.2 million.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Tim Ahmann Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)