No. 8: Salt Lake City, Utah

Average monthly rent: $727
Annual drop: -10.3%
Q4 2009 drop: -3.5%

Salt Lake City, once supported by the mining, railroad, and steel industries, had an unemployment rate in December 2009 of 6.2%, compared to 3.8% a year earlier, according to BLS estimates. The vacancy rate last year—7.6%, compared to 2.9% in 2007—was affected by new apartment construction, including the completion of several large properties, according to a report from Apartment Realty Advisors, an advisory brokerage firm. More projects are planned this year.