Defined contribution plans are in many ways back to pre-recession levels, according to a survey released Thursday by the Plan Sponsor Council of America.

The 56^th Annual Profit Sharing and 401(k) Survey reported that in three key areas – participation rate, savings rate and company contributions – plans in 2012 met or exceeded levels they had attained before the market crash in 2008.

The survey found that 87.6 percent of eligible employees have a balance in their plan and that 80 percent of plan participants made contributions in 2012; the average savings rate of participants is 6.8 percent of pay, up from 6.2 percent from 2010; and 95.3 percent of companies made promised matching contributions, up from 85 percent in 2010. In addition, the average matching contribution rose from 3.7 percent in 2010 to 4.5 percent last year.