Label	Element	Value
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Registrant Name	dei_EntityRegistrantName	SCHWAB STRATEGIC TRUST
Prospectus Date	rr_ProspectusDate	Apr. 29, 2016
Schwab Intermediate-Term U.S. Treasury ETF™
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Risk/Return [Heading]	rr_RiskReturnHeading	Schwab Intermediate-Term U.S. Treasury ETF™
Objective [Heading]	rr_ObjectiveHeading	Investment objective
Objective, Primary [Text Block]	rr_ObjectivePrimaryTextBlock	The fund’s goal is to track as closely as possible, before fees and expenses, the price and yield performance of the Barclays U.S. 3-10 Year Treasury Bond Index.
Expense [Heading]	rr_ExpenseHeading	Fund fees and expenses
Expense Narrative [Text Block]	rr_ExpenseNarrativeTextBlock	This table describes the fees and expenses you may pay if you buy and hold shares of the fund. The table does not reflect brokerage commissions you may incur when buying or selling fund shares.
Shareholder Fees Caption [Text]	rr_ShareholderFeesCaption	Shareholder fees (fees paid directly from your investment)
Operating Expenses Caption [Text]	rr_OperatingExpensesCaption	Annual fund operating expenses (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment)
Portfolio Turnover [Heading]	rr_PortfolioTurnoverHeading	Portfolio turnover
Portfolio Turnover [Text Block]	rr_PortfolioTurnoverTextBlock	The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or “turns over” its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may result in higher taxes when fund shares are held in a taxable account. These costs, which are not reflected in the annual fund operating expenses or in the example, affect the fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund's portfolio turnover rate was 32% of the average value of its portfolio.
Portfolio Turnover, Rate	rr_PortfolioTurnoverRate	32.00%
Expense Exchange Traded Fund Commissions [Text]	rr_ExpenseExchangeTradedFundCommissions	The table does not reflect brokerage commissions you may incur when buying or selling fund shares.
Expense Example [Heading]	rr_ExpenseExampleHeading	Example
Expense Example by Year [Heading]	rr_ExpenseExampleByYearHeading	Expenses on a $10,000 investment
Expense Example Narrative [Text Block]	rr_ExpenseExampleNarrativeTextBlock	This example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other funds. The example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those time periods. The example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund’s operating expenses remain the same. This example does not reflect any brokerage commissions you may incur when buying or selling fund shares. Your actual costs may be higher or lower.
Strategy [Heading]	rr_StrategyHeading	Principal investment strategies
Strategy Narrative [Text Block]	rr_StrategyNarrativeTextBlock	To pursue its goal, the fund generally invests in securities that are included in the Barclays U.S. 3-10 Year Treasury Bond Index1.The index includes all publicly-issued U.S. Treasury securities that have a remaining maturity of greater than or equal to three years and less than ten years, are rated investment grade, and have $250 million or more of outstanding face value. The securities in the index must be denominated in U.S. dollars and must be fixed-rate and non-convertible. The index excludes state and local government series bonds and coupon issues that have been stripped from bonds. The index is market capitalization weighted and the securities in the index are updated on the last business day of each month. As of March 31, 2016, there were 116 securities in the index. It is the fund’s policy that under normal circumstances it will invest at least 90% of its net assets in securities included in the index. The fund will notify its shareholders at least 60 days before changing this policy. Under normal circumstances, the fund may invest up to 10% of its net assets in securities not included in its index. The principal types of these investments include those that the investment adviser believes will help the fund track the index, such as investments in (a) securities that are not represented in the index but the investment adviser anticipates will be added to the index; (b) high-quality liquid short-term investments, such as securities issued by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities, including obligations that are not guaranteed by the U.S. Treasury, and obligations that are issued by private issuers that are guaranteed as to principal or interest by the U.S. government, its agencies or instrumentalities; and (c) other investment companies. The fund may also invest in cash, cash equivalents and money market funds, enter into repurchase agreements, and may lend its securities to minimize the difference in performance that naturally exists between an index fund and its corresponding index. The investment adviser will seek to track the price and yield performance of the index by using statistical sampling techniques. These techniques involve investing in a limited number of index securities that, when taken together, are expected to perform similarly to the index as a whole. These techniques are based on a variety of factors, including interest rate and yield curve risk, maturity exposures, and other risk factors and characteristics. The fund generally expects that its portfolio will hold less than the total number of securities in the index, but reserves the right to hold as many securities as it believes necessary to achieve the fund’s investment objective. The fund generally expects that its yield and maturity will be similar to those of the index. In addition, the fund generally expects that its weighted average duration will closely correspond to the weighted average duration of the index, which as of March 31, 2016, was 5.3 years. The investment adviser seeks to achieve, over time, a correlation between the fund’s performance and that of its index, before fees and expenses, of 95% or better. However, there can be no guarantee that the fund will achieve a high degree of correlation with the index. A number of factors may affect the fund’s ability to achieve a high correlation with its index, including the degree to which the fund utilizes a sampling technique. The correlation between the performance of the fund and its index may also diverge due to transaction costs, asset valuations, timing variances, and differences between the fund’s portfolio and the index resulting from legal restrictions (such as diversification requirements) that apply to the fund but not to the index. 1 Index ownership — © Barclays Inc. 2015. All rights reserved. The Schwab Intermediate-Term U.S. Treasury ETF is not sponsored, endorsed, sold or promoted by Barclays. Barclays does not make any representation regarding the advisability of investing in shares of the fund.
Risk [Heading]	rr_RiskHeading	Principal risks
Risk Narrative [Text Block]	rr_RiskNarrativeTextBlock	The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money. The fund's principal risks include: Market Risk. Bond markets rise and fall daily. As with any investment whose performance is tied to these markets, the value of your investment in the fund will fluctuate, which means that you could lose money. Investment Style Risk. The fund is not actively managed. Therefore, the fund follows the securities included in the index during upturns as well as downturns. Because of its indexing strategy, the fund does not take steps to reduce market exposure or to lessen the effects of a declining market. In addition, because of the fund’s expenses, the fund’s performance may be below that of the index. Interest Rate Risk. The fund’s investments in fixed income securities are subject to the risk that interest rates rise and fall over time. As with any investment whose yield reflects current interest rates, the fund’s yield will change over time. During periods when interest rates are low, the fund’s yield (and total return) also may be low. Changes in interest rates also may affect the fund’s share price: a rise in interest rates could cause the fund’s share price to fall. The longer the fund’s portfolio duration, the more sensitive to interest rate movements its share price is likely to be. Because interest rates in the United States are near historically low levels, a change in a central bank’s monetary policy or improving economic conditions may result in an increase in interest rates. Credit Risk. The fund is subject to the risk that a decline in the credit quality of a portfolio investment could cause the fund to lose money or underperform. The fund could lose money if the issuer or guarantor of a portfolio investment fails to make timely principal or interest payments or otherwise honor its obligations. Sampling Index Tracking Risk. The fund will not fully replicate the index and may hold securities not included in the index. As a result, the fund is subject to the risk that the investment adviser’s investment management strategy, the implementation of which is subject to a number of constraints, may not produce the intended results. Because the fund uses a sampling approach, it may not track the return of the index as well as it would if the fund purchased all of the securities in the index. Tracking Error Risk. As an index fund, the fund seeks to track the performance of the index, although it may not be successful in doing so. The divergence between the performance of the fund and the index, positive or negative, is called “tracking error.” Tracking error can be caused by many factors and it may be significant. For example, the fund may not invest in certain securities in the index or match the securities’ weighting to the index. Liquidity Risk. The fund may be unable to sell certain securities, such as illiquid securities, readily at a favorable time or price, or the fund may have to sell them at a loss. Securities Lending Risk. Securities lending involves the risk of loss of rights in the collateral or delay in recovery of the collateral if the borrower fails to return the security loaned or becomes insolvent. Market Trading Risk. Although fund shares are listed on national securities exchanges, there can be no assurance that an active trading market for fund shares will develop or be maintained. If an active market is not maintained, investors may find it difficult to buy or sell fund shares. Shares of the Fund May Trade at Prices Other Than NAV. Fund shares may be bought and sold in the secondary market at market prices. Although it is expected that the market price of the shares of the fund will approximate the fund’s net asset value (NAV), there may be times when the market price and the NAV vary significantly. You may pay more than NAV when you buy shares of the fund in the secondary market, and you may receive less than NAV when you sell those shares in the secondary market. The market price of fund shares may deviate, sometimes significantly, from NAV during periods of market volatility. Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency. For more information on the risks of investing in the fund, please see the “Fund details” section in the prospectus.
Risk Lose Money [Text]	rr_RiskLoseMoney	The fund is subject to risks, any of which could cause an investor to lose money.
Risk Not Insured Depository Institution [Text]	rr_RiskNotInsuredDepositoryInstitution	Your investment in the fund is not a bank deposit and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other government agency.
Bar Chart and Performance Table [Heading]	rr_BarChartAndPerformanceTableHeading	Performance
Performance Narrative [Text Block]	rr_PerformanceNarrativeTextBlock	The bar chart below shows how the fund’s investment results have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compared to that of an index. This information provides some indication of the risks of investing in the fund. All figures assume distributions were reinvested. Keep in mind that future performance (both before and after taxes) may differ from past performance. For current performance information, please see www.csimfunds.com/schwabetfs_prospectus.
Performance Information Illustrates Variability of Returns [Text]	rr_PerformanceInformationIllustratesVariabilityOfReturns	The bar chart below shows how the fund’s investment results have varied from year to year, and the following table shows how the fund’s average annual total returns for various periods compared to that of an index.
Performance Availability Website Address [Text]	rr_PerformanceAvailabilityWebSiteAddress	www.csimfunds.com/schwabetfs_prospectus
Performance Past Does Not Indicate Future [Text]	rr_PerformancePastDoesNotIndicateFuture	Keep in mind that future performance (both before and after taxes) may differ from past performance.
Bar Chart [Heading]	rr_BarChartHeading	Annual total returns (%) as of 12/31
Bar Chart Closing [Text Block]	rr_BarChartClosingTextBlock	Best Quarter: 5.64% Q3 2011 Worst Quarter: (2.50%) Q2 2013
Performance Table Heading	rr_PerformanceTableHeading	Average annual total returns (%) as of 12/31/15
Performance Table Uses Highest Federal Rate	rr_PerformanceTableUsesHighestFederalRate	The after-tax figures reflect the highest individual federal income tax rates in effect during the period and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes.
Performance Table Not Relevant to Tax Deferred	rr_PerformanceTableNotRelevantToTaxDeferred	Your actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation. In addition, after-tax returns are not relevant if you hold your fund shares through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan, an individual retirement account (IRA) or other tax-advantaged account.
Performance Table Narrative	rr_PerformanceTableNarrativeTextBlock	The after-tax figures reflect the highest individual federal income tax rates in effect during the period and do not reflect the impact of state and local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns depend on your individual tax situation. In addition, after-tax returns are not relevant if you hold your fund shares through a tax-deferred arrangement, such as a 401(k) plan, an individual retirement account (IRA) or other tax-advantaged account.
Schwab Intermediate-Term U.S. Treasury ETF™ | Schwab Intermediate-Term U.S. Treasury ETF
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Shareholder fees (fees paid directly from your investment)	rr_ShareholderFeeOther	none
Management fees	rr_ManagementFeesOverAssets	0.09%
Other expenses	rr_OtherExpensesOverAssets	none
Total annual fund operating expenses	rr_ExpensesOverAssets	0.09%
1 year	rr_ExpenseExampleYear01	$ 9
3 years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear03	29
5 years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear05	51
10 years	rr_ExpenseExampleYear10	$ 115
2011	rr_AnnualReturn2011	10.02%
2012	rr_AnnualReturn2012	2.57%
2013	rr_AnnualReturn2013	(2.86%)
2014	rr_AnnualReturn2014	4.27%
2015	rr_AnnualReturn2015	1.62%
Highest Quarterly Return, Label	rr_HighestQuarterlyReturnLabel	Best Quarter:
Highest Quarterly Return, Date	rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturnDate	Sep. 30, 2011
Highest Quarterly Return	rr_BarChartHighestQuarterlyReturn	5.64%
Lowest Quarterly Return, Label	rr_LowestQuarterlyReturnLabel	Worst Quarter:
Lowest Quarterly Return, Date	rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturnDate	Jun. 30, 2013
Lowest Quarterly Return	rr_BarChartLowestQuarterlyReturn	(2.50%)
Label	rr_AverageAnnualReturnLabel	Before taxes
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	1.62%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	3.04%
Since Inception	rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception	2.70%
Inception Date	rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate	Aug. 05, 2010
Schwab Intermediate-Term U.S. Treasury ETF™ | After taxes on distributions | Schwab Intermediate-Term U.S. Treasury ETF
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Label	rr_AverageAnnualReturnLabel	After taxes on distributions
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	0.94%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	2.49%
Since Inception	rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception	2.15%
Inception Date	rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate	Aug. 05, 2010
Schwab Intermediate-Term U.S. Treasury ETF™ | After taxes on distributions and sale of shares | Schwab Intermediate-Term U.S. Treasury ETF
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Label	rr_AverageAnnualReturnLabel	After taxes on distributions and sale of shares
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	0.92%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	2.11%
Since Inception	rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception	1.85%
Inception Date	rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate	Aug. 05, 2010
Schwab Intermediate-Term U.S. Treasury ETF™ | Comparative Index (reflects no deduction for expenses or taxes) Barclays U.S. 3-10 Year Treasury Bond Index
Risk/Return:	rr_RiskReturnAbstract
Label	rr_AverageAnnualReturnLabel	Comparative Index (reflects no deduction for expenses or taxes) Barclays U.S. 3-10 Year Treasury Bond Index
1 Year	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear01	1.73%
5 Years	rr_AverageAnnualReturnYear05	3.15%
Since Inception	rr_AverageAnnualReturnSinceInception	2.82%
Inception Date	rr_AverageAnnualReturnInceptionDate	Aug. 05, 2010