Dallas-Fort Worth ranks as the third highest-rated region for where millennials want to live, according to a study of major U.S. metro areas.

With millennials now comprising the largest portion of the American labor force, it's an important trend for employers and cities to understand where the demographic group is settling down and why.

The study, performed by research groups Langston Co. and Centiment, took into account more than 40 different elements of city living and analyzed more than 125,000 data points. It included feedback from nearly 3,000 millennials in 22 major U.S. metros.

Participants were asked to provide satisfaction ratings for factors ranging from employment opportunities to cost of living, taxes and even cleanliness.

"These results are exciting because they are based on information collected directly from the actual residents in these cities," said Langston Co. founding partner Tom Anderson.

Three Texas cities took top spots in terms of offering the best value to millennial residents and D-FW trailed only Houston and Atlanta overall. Austin placed fifth.

Dallas-Fort Worth scored in the top five metros in 18 different categories, including millennials' satisfaction with costs, taxes and traffic. Yes, you read that right, traffic was rated better in D-FW than in Austin and Houston, which was the 12th worst city for traffic.

Millennials also rated D-FW high for its family-friendly population, schools and amenities for kids. Recent Pew research suggests there are now 17.3 million millennial mothers in the U.S.

How top cities ranked in Langston Co. and Centiment's study of cities millenials like living in the most sorted by different factors. (Langston Co. and Centiment)

While millennials in D-FW rate the area high for a number of factors related to the cost of living, in other areas, D-FW came up short of their desires. The metro received very low ratings for culture, diversity and restaurants -– lagging behind Austin and Houston.

"This study shows that the challenges of growth and change in Dallas-Fort Worth don't outweigh the benefits of living here for millennials, who cited the area's attractions and big-city amenities as some of the best parts of living there," the authors of the study said in a statement.

Top 10 U.S. cities by overall value to millennials.