Basis of Presentation	6 Months Ended
Jun. 30, 2016
Accounting Policies [Abstract]
Basis of Presentation	Note 1 Basis of Presentation National Bank Holdings Corporation ("NBHC" or the "Company") is a bank holding company that was incorporated in the State of Delaware in June 2009 with the intent to acquire and operate financial services franchises and other complementary businesses in targeted markets. The Company is headquartered immediately south of Denver, in Greenwood Village, Colorado, and its primary operations are conducted through its wholly owned subsidiary, NBH Bank (the "Bank"), a Colorado state-chartered bank and a member of the Federal Reserve System. The Company provides a variety of banking products to both commercial and consumer clients through a network of 91 banking centers located in Colorado, the greater Kansas City area and Texas, and through on-line and mobile banking products. The accompanying interim unaudited consolidated financial statements serve to update the National Bank Holdings Corporation Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 and include the accounts of the Company and the Bank and its wholly owned subsidiaries. The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and where applicable, with general practices in the banking industry or guidelines prescribed by bank regulatory agencies. However, they may not include all information and notes necessary to constitute a complete set of financial statements under GAAP applicable to annual periods and accordingly should be read in conjunction with the financial information contained in the Company's most recent Form 10-K. The unaudited consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments which are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair statement of the results presented. All such adjustments are of a normal recurring nature. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Certain reclassifications of prior years' amounts are made whenever necessary to conform to current period presentation. During the first quarter of 2016, the Company updated the loan classifications in its allowance for loan losses model. Certain loan classifications within the consolidated financial statement disclosures have been updated to reflect this change. Refer to note 4 for further discussion. The prior period presentations have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation. The results of operations for the interim period is not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full year or any other interim period. All amounts are in thousands, except share data, or as otherwise noted. GAAP requires management to make estimates that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities. By their nature, estimates are based on judgment and available information. Management has made significant estimates in certain areas, such as the amount and timing of expected cash flows from assets, the valuation of other real estate owned (“OREO”), the fair value adjustments on assets acquired and liabilities assumed, the valuation of core deposit intangible assets, the valuation of investment securities for other-than-temporary impairment (“OTTI”), the valuation of stock-based compensation, the fair values of financial instruments, the allowance for loan losses (“ALL”), and contingent liabilities. Because of the inherent uncertainties associated with any estimation process and future changes in market and economic conditions, it is possible that actual results could differ significantly from these estimates. The Company's significant accounting policies followed in the preparation of the unaudited consolidated financial statements are disclosed in note 2 of the audited financial statements and notes for the year ended December 31, 2015 and are contained in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K. There have not been any significant changes to the application of significant accounting policies since December 31, 2015, with the exception of the following: Loans held for sale—The Company enters into commitments to originate residential mortgage loans whereby the interest rate on the loan is determined prior to funding (i.e. interest rate lock commitments). Such interest rate lock commitments on mortgage loans to be sold in the secondary market are considered to be derivatives. To protect against the price risk inherent in residential mortgage loan commitments, the Company utilizes both "best efforts" and "mandatory delivery" forward loan sale commitments to mitigate the risk of potential increases or decreases in the values of loans that would result from the change in market rates for such loans. Under a "best efforts" contract, the Company commits to deliver an individual mortgage loan of a specified principal amount and quality to an investor and the investor commits to a price that it will purchase the loan from the Company only if the loan to the underlying borrower closes. As a result, the Company is not generally exposed to gains or losses on loans sold utilizing best efforts due to changes in underlying market interest rates between the time of the rate lock and loan sale. The market value of interest rate lock commitments and best efforts contracts are not readily ascertainable with precision because rate lock commitments and best efforts contracts are not actively traded. However, because of the high correlation between rate lock commitments and best efforts contracts offsetting market value changes, no gain or loss should occur on the interest rate lock commitments. Under a "mandatory delivery" contract, the Company commits to deliver a certain principal amount of mortgage loans to an investor at a specified price on or before a specified date. This typically happens after the loan to the underlying borrower closes. The Company manages the interest rate risk on interest rate lock commitments by entering into forward sale contracts of mortgage backed securities, whereby the Company obtains the right to deliver securities to investors in the future at a specified price. Such contracts are accounted for as derivatives and are recorded at fair value as derivative assets or liabilities. They are carried on the consolidated statements of financial condition within other assets or other liabilities and changes in fair value are recorded in other non-interest income within the consolidated statements of operations. The period of time between issuance of a loan commitment to the customer and closing of the loan to an investor generally ranges from 30 - 90 days under normal market conditions. The gross gains on loan sales are recognized based on new loan commitments with adjustment for price and pair-off activity. Commission expenses on loans held for sale are recognized based on loans closed. Income taxes —For the three and six months ended June 30, 2015, the Company utilized the discrete effective tax rate method, as allowed by Accounting Standards codification (“ASC”) 740-270-30-18, “Income Taxes-Interim Reporting,” to calculate its interim income tax provision. The discrete method is applied when the application of the estimated annual effective tax rate is impractical because it is not possible to reliably estimate the annual effective tax rate. The discrete method treats the year to date period as if it was the annual period and determines the income tax expense or benefit on that basis. The Company believed that, at that time, the use of this discrete method was more appropriate than the annual effective tax rate method as the estimated annual effective tax rate method was not reliable due to (1) the levels of tax-exempt income in relation to pre-tax income, (2) the impact of the warrant liability which is non-taxable and (3) the impact and variability of FDIC Indemnification amortization on pre-tax income. See further discussion in note 13.

Note 1 Basis of Presentation

National Bank Holdings Corporation ("NBHC" or the "Company") is a bank holding company that was incorporated in the State of Delaware in June 2009 with the intent to acquire and operate financial services franchises and other complementary businesses in targeted markets. The Company is headquartered immediately south of Denver, in Greenwood Village, Colorado, and its primary operations are conducted through its wholly owned subsidiary, NBH Bank (the "Bank"), a Colorado state-chartered bank and a member of the Federal Reserve System. The Company provides a variety of banking products to both commercial and consumer clients through a network of 91 banking centers located in Colorado, the greater Kansas City area and Texas, and through on-line and mobile banking products.

The accompanying interim unaudited consolidated financial statements serve to update the National Bank Holdings Corporation Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 and include the accounts of the Company and the Bank and its wholly owned subsidiaries. The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”) and where applicable, with general practices in the banking industry or guidelines prescribed by bank regulatory agencies. However, they may not include all information and notes necessary to constitute a complete set of financial statements under GAAP applicable to annual periods and accordingly should be read in conjunction with the financial information contained in the Company's most recent Form 10-K. The unaudited consolidated financial statements reflect all adjustments which are, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair statement of the results presented. All such adjustments are of a normal recurring nature. All significant intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation. Certain reclassifications of prior years' amounts are made whenever necessary to conform to current period presentation. During the first quarter of 2016, the Company updated the loan classifications in its allowance for loan losses model. Certain loan classifications within the consolidated financial statement disclosures have been updated to reflect this change. Refer to note 4 for further discussion. The prior period presentations have been reclassified to conform to the current period presentation. The results of operations for the interim period is not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for the full year or any other interim period. All amounts are in thousands, except share data, or as otherwise noted.

GAAP requires management to make estimates that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses, and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities. By their nature, estimates are based on judgment and available information. Management has made significant estimates in certain areas, such as the amount and timing of expected cash flows from assets, the valuation of other real estate owned (“OREO”), the fair value adjustments on assets acquired and liabilities assumed, the valuation of core deposit intangible assets, the valuation of investment securities for other-than-temporary impairment (“OTTI”), the valuation of stock-based compensation, the fair values of financial instruments, the allowance for loan losses (“ALL”), and contingent liabilities. Because of the inherent uncertainties associated with any estimation process and future changes in market and economic conditions, it is possible that actual results could differ significantly from these estimates.

The Company's significant accounting policies followed in the preparation of the unaudited consolidated financial statements are disclosed in note 2 of the audited financial statements and notes for the year ended December 31, 2015 and are contained in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K. There have not been any significant changes to the application of significant accounting policies since December 31, 2015, with the exception of the following:

Loans held for sale—The Company enters into commitments to originate residential mortgage loans whereby the interest rate on the loan is determined prior to funding (i.e. interest rate lock commitments). Such interest rate lock commitments on mortgage loans to be sold in the secondary market are considered to be derivatives. To protect against the price risk inherent in residential mortgage loan commitments, the Company utilizes both "best efforts" and "mandatory delivery" forward loan sale commitments to mitigate the risk of potential increases or decreases in the values of loans that would result from the change in market rates for such loans. Under a "best efforts" contract, the Company commits to deliver an individual mortgage loan of a specified principal amount and quality to an investor and the investor commits to a price that it will purchase the loan from the Company only if the loan to the underlying borrower closes. As a result, the Company is not generally exposed to gains or losses on loans sold utilizing best efforts due to changes in underlying market interest rates between the time of the rate lock and loan sale. The market value of interest rate lock commitments and best efforts contracts are not readily ascertainable with precision because rate lock commitments and best efforts contracts are not actively traded. However, because of the high correlation between rate lock commitments and best efforts contracts offsetting market value changes, no gain or loss should occur on the interest rate lock commitments. Under a "mandatory delivery" contract, the Company commits to deliver a certain principal amount of mortgage loans to an investor at a specified price on or before a specified date. This typically happens after the loan to the underlying borrower closes. The Company manages the interest rate risk on interest rate lock commitments by entering into forward sale contracts of mortgage backed securities, whereby the Company obtains the right to deliver securities to investors in the future at a specified price. Such contracts are accounted for as derivatives and are recorded at fair value as derivative assets or liabilities. They are carried on the consolidated statements of financial condition within other assets or other liabilities and changes in fair value are recorded in other non-interest income within the consolidated statements of operations. The period of time between issuance of a loan commitment to the customer and closing of the loan to an investor generally ranges from 30 - 90 days under normal market conditions. The gross gains on loan sales are recognized based on new loan commitments with adjustment for price and pair-off activity. Commission expenses on loans held for sale are recognized based on loans closed.

Income taxes —For the three and six months ended June 30, 2015, the Company utilized the discrete effective tax rate method, as allowed by Accounting Standards codification (“ASC”) 740-270-30-18, “Income Taxes-Interim Reporting,” to calculate its interim income tax provision. The discrete method is applied when the application of the estimated annual effective tax rate is impractical because it is not possible to reliably estimate the annual effective tax rate. The discrete method treats the year to date period as if it was the annual period and determines the income tax expense or benefit on that basis. The Company believed that, at that time, the use of this discrete method was more appropriate than the annual effective tax rate method as the estimated annual effective tax rate method was not reliable due to (1) the levels of tax-exempt income in relation to pre-tax income, (2) the impact of the warrant liability which is non-taxable and (3) the impact and variability of FDIC Indemnification amortization on pre-tax income. See further discussion in note 13.