NEW YORK — Workers are more likely to be saving for retirement, at least among those eligible for a workplace plan, and lower-income employees have made some of the biggest gains in recent years.

The outlook for retirement in the country is by no means cloudless: Many workers, particularly those in low-income households, still have no access to a 401(k) or similar plan. Among those who do, experts say savings levels broadly still aren’t high enough to guarantee that most households will be able to maintain their standard of living in retirement. But there are signs of progress.

n Workers are more likely to be saving.

Across Vanguard’s plans, 79 percent of all workers eligible to save in a 401(k), 403(b) or similar account are doing so. That’s up from 68 percent a decade ago, and a big reason for it is that workers are getting a more forceful push to do so.

Nearly half of employer plans, 45 percent, sign their workers up automatically for the retirement plan. That’s triple the rate from 10 years ago. Workers still have the choice to opt out, but requiring that extra step means more end up saving, and it’s another example of trying to use inertia to help. Only 10 percent of workers in plans with automatic enrollment aren’t participating, versus 37 percent at plans where signing up is voluntary.

Most typically, employers are enrolling workers to contribute 3 percent of their pay.

n Lower-income workers are seeing the biggest increases in participation.

Workers pulling down big paychecks have always been the most likely to save in a 401(k). More than 90 percent of workers making $100,000 or above participated in their plan last year, the same as it’s been through the past decade.

The story hasn’t been so good for lower-income workers, who likely feel less comfortable diverting some of their paycheck. A decade ago, for example, only 45 percent of workers making less than $30,000 annually participated in their plan. That was less than half the rate of the highest-paid workers.

But the participation rate for lower-income workers has been steadily climbing in recent years, and hit an estimated 65 percent last year.

n Younger workers are also more likely to save than before.

n Workers’ portfolios are better balanced.