Chicago area shows highest rent increase among top 10 metrosYear-over-year rents rose in Illinois while falling nationwide. The Chicago area saw the largest increase in apartment rents in the past year among the country’s 10 biggest metro areas. The 3.1% year-over-year increase in the Chicago area as of June was almost double the New York area’s 1.6% and almost triple Philadelphia’s 1.1%. In the Los Angeles area, rents fell 1.1% in the past year and dropped 3.5% in Phoenix. Rents rose 7.8% in Champaign-Urbana, the fourth-highest jump in the country and topping even the San Francisco area’s 7.4% increase.