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No. 8 Biggest Rent Hike: Denver-Aurora, Colo.

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Lower Inventory, Higher Prices No. 25 Biggest Rent Hike: Bethesda-Frederick-Gaithersburg, Md. No. 24 Biggest Rent Hike: Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, Ill. No. 23 Biggest Rent Hike: Naples-Marco Island, Fla. No. 22 Biggest Rent Hike: Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-Ventura, Calif. No. 21 Biggest Rent Hike: Durham-Chapel Hill, N.C. No. 20 Biggest Rent Hike: Mobile, Ala. No. 19 Biggest Rent Hike: San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif. No. 18 Biggest Rent Hike: New York-Wayne-White Plains, N.Y.-N.J. No. 17 Biggest Rent Hike: Austin-Round Rock, Tex. No. 16 Biggest Rent Hike: Wilmington, Del.-Md.-N.J. No. 15 Biggest Rent Hike: Albuquerque, N.M. No. 14 Biggest Rent Hike: Boulder, Colo. No. 13 Biggest Rent Hike: Jackson, Miss. No. 12 Biggest Rent Hike: Boston-Cambridge-Quincy, Mass.-N.H. No. 11 Biggest Rent Hike: West Palm Beach-Boca Raton-Boynton Beach, Fla. No. 10 Biggest Rent Hike: Raleigh-Cary, N.C. No. 9 Biggest Rent Hike: Washington-Arlington-Alexandria, D.C.-Va.-Md.-W.V. No. 8 Biggest Rent Hike: Denver-Aurora, Colo. No. 7 Biggest Rent Hike: Tacoma, Wash. No. 6 Biggest Rent Hike: Nashville-Davidson-Murfreesboro, Tenn. No. 5 Biggest Rent Hike: San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif. No. 4 Biggest Rent Hike: Portland-Vancouver-Beaverton, Ore.-Wash. No. 3 Biggest Rent Hike: Savannah, Ga. No. 2 Biggest Rent Hike: Chattanooga, Tenn.-Ga. No. 1 Biggest Rent Hike: Greenville, S.C.

No. 8 Biggest Rent Hike: Denver-Aurora, Colo.

Annual increase: 7.5%
Average monthly rent: $873
Vacancy rate: 5.6% (7.5% in 2009)
Average concession: -4%

Major employers in the Denver area include the federal, state, and local governments, the University of Colorado, HealthONE, Qwest Communications, and Lockheed Martin, according to the Metro Denver Economic Development Corp. The regional economy fared better than many in the country, and the group estimates that the metro Denver population grew by 15,514 last year and will continue expanding in 2011. Renters in parts of the Denver suburb Littleton saw rents spike by 13.4 percent last year, and in Northglenn, Thornton, and southeast Denver by 9.7 percent, according to AXIOMetrics. The Denver metro's average unemployment rate increased to about 8.3 percent, according to preliminary data from the BLS, from 7.9 percent in 2009.