Recent Accounting Developments - Income Statement Impact (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
Revenue:
Revenues	$ 226,870	$ 197,982	$ 438,910	$ 387,867
Selling, general and administrative	26,649	25,162	54,157	52,715
Benefit from income taxes	(1,567)	(1,580)	(1,213)	(1,257)
Less: Net income attributable to the noncontrolling interest	(2,212)	(2,651)	(8,097)	(323)
Net income attributable to Archrock stockholders	1,937	(6,687)	(1,879)	(18,372)
Contract Operations | Contract operations
Revenue:
Revenues	165,450	151,114	326,647	301,098
Costs of sales (excluding depreciation and amortization expense)	67,809	62,243	132,404	126,340
Aftermarket Services | Aftermarket services
Revenue:
Revenues	61,420	46,868	112,263	86,769
Costs of sales (excluding depreciation and amortization expense)	50,793	$ 39,609	93,130	$ 73,341
Balance Excluding the Impact of the Revenue Recognition Update
Revenue:
Revenues	223,001		430,767
Selling, general and administrative	27,025		55,127
Benefit from income taxes	(4,097)		(4,454)
Less: Net income attributable to the noncontrolling interest	(1,735)		(6,141)
Net income attributable to Archrock stockholders	242		(6,422)
Balance Excluding the Impact of the Revenue Recognition Update | Contract Operations | Contract operations
Revenue:
Revenues	166,341		329,325
Costs of sales (excluding depreciation and amortization expense)	71,956		141,150
Balance Excluding the Impact of the Revenue Recognition Update | Aftermarket Services | Aftermarket services
Revenue:
Revenues	56,660		101,442
Costs of sales (excluding depreciation and amortization expense)	47,103		85,011
Effect of Change | ASU 2014-09
Revenue:
Revenues	3,869		8,143
Selling, general and administrative	(376)		(970)
Benefit from income taxes	2,530		3,241
Less: Net income attributable to the noncontrolling interest	(477)		(1,956)
Net income attributable to Archrock stockholders	1,695		4,543
Effect of Change | ASU 2014-09 | Contract Operations | Contract operations
Revenue:
Revenues	(891)		(2,678)
Costs of sales (excluding depreciation and amortization expense)	(4,147)		(8,746)
Effect of Change | ASU 2014-09 | Aftermarket Services | Aftermarket services
Revenue:
Revenues	4,760		10,821
Costs of sales (excluding depreciation and amortization expense)	$ 3,690		$ 8,119