Regulatory Capital (Details) (USD $)	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014
Compliance with Regulatory Capital Requirements under Banking Regulations [Line Items]
Risk weighted assets	$ 5,580,000,000us-gaap_RiskWeightedAssets	$ 5,700,000,000us-gaap_RiskWeightedAssets	$ 4,760,000,000us-gaap_RiskWeightedAssets
Chemical Financial Corporation [Member]
Total Capital to Risk-Weighted Assets:
Actual, Capital Amount	727,090,000	705,130,000	659,644,000
Minimum Required for Capital Adequacy Purposes, Capital Amount	446,173,000	456,302,000	381,146,000
Actual, Ratio	13.00%	12.40%	13.80%
Minimum Required for Capital Adequacy Purposes, Ratio	8.00%	8.00%	8.00%
Tier 1 Capital to Risk-Weighted Assets:
Actual, Capital Amount	657,307,000	633,779,000	599,856,000
Minimum Required for Capital Adequacy Purposes, Capital Amount	334,630,000	228,151,000	190,573,000
Actual, Ratio	11.80%	11.10%	12.60%
Minimum Required for Capital Adequacy Purposes, Ratio	6.00%	4.00%	4.00%
Common Equity Tier One Risk Based Capital	657,307,000
Common Equity Tier One Risk Based Capital to Risk Weighted Assets	11.80%
Common Equity Tier One Risk Based Capital for Capital Adequacy	250,972,000
Common Equity Tier One Risk Based Capital Required for Capital Adequacy to Risk Weighted Assets	4.50%
Leverage Ratio:
Actual, Capital Amount	657,307,000	633,779,000	599,856,000
Minimum Required for Capital Adequacy Purposes, Capital Amount	289,948,000	273,226,000	243,070,000
Actual, Ratio	9.10%	9.30%	9.90%
Minimum Required for Capital Adequacy Purposes, Ratio	4.00%	4.00%	4.00%
Chemical Bank [Member]
Total Capital to Risk-Weighted Assets:
Actual, Capital Amount	676,488,000	654,031,000	589,254,000
Minimum Required for Capital Adequacy Purposes, Capital Amount	445,471,000	455,633,000	380,542,000
Required to be Well Capitalized Under Prompt Corrective Action Regulations, Capital Amount	556,838,000	569,541,000	475,678,000
Actual, Ratio	12.10%	11.50%	12.40%
Minimum Required for Capital Adequacy Purposes, Ratio	8.00%	8.00%	8.00%
Required to be Well Capitalized Under Prompt Corrective Action Regulations, Ratio	10.00%	10.00%	10.00%
Tier 1 Capital to Risk-Weighted Assets:
Actual, Capital Amount	606,813,000	582,783,000	529,560,000
Minimum Required for Capital Adequacy Purposes, Capital Amount	334,103,000	227,816,000	190,271,000
Required to be Well Capitalized Under Prompt Corrective Action Regulations, Capital Amount	445,471,000	341,725,000	285,407,000
Actual, Ratio	10.90%	10.20%	11.10%
Minimum Required for Capital Adequacy Purposes, Ratio	6.00%	4.00%	4.00%
Required to be Well Capitalized Under Prompt Corrective Action Regulations, Ratio	8.00%	6.00%	6.00%
Common Equity Tier One Risk Based Capital	606,813,000
Common Equity Tier One Risk Based Capital to Risk Weighted Assets	10.90%
Common Equity Tier One Risk Based Capital for Capital Adequacy	250,577,000
Common Equity Tier One Risk Based Capital Required for Capital Adequacy to Risk Weighted Assets	4.50%
Common Equity Tier One Risk Based Capital to be Well Capitalized	361,945,000
Common Equity Tier One Risk Based Capital Required to Be Well Capitalized to Risk Weighted Assets	6.50%
Leverage Ratio:
Actual, Capital Amount	606,813,000	582,783,000	529,560,000
Minimum Required for Capital Adequacy Purposes, Capital Amount	289,840,000	273,048,000	242,939,000
Required to be Well Capitalized Under Prompt Corrective Action Regulations, Capital Amount	$ 362,300,000	$ 341,310,000	$ 303,673,000
Actual, Ratio	8.40%	8.50%	8.70%
Minimum Required for Capital Adequacy Purposes, Ratio	4.00%	4.00%	4.00%
Required to be Well Capitalized Under Prompt Corrective Action Regulations, Ratio	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%

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The amount of total capital as defined in the regulations.

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The minimum amount of Total Capital required for capital adequacy purposes under the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action.

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The minimum Total risk based capital ratio (total capital divided by risk weighted assets) required for capital adequacy purposes under the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action.

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The amount of Total Capital required to be categorized as well as capitalized under the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action.

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The Total risk based capital ratio (total capital divided by risk weighted assets) required to be categorized as "well capitalized", in the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action.

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Total Capital divided by risk weighted assets as defined in the regulations.

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Amount of risk-weighted assets as calculated in accordance with U.S. Federal regulatory capital standards.

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Tier 1 Leverage Capital as defined in the regulations. Also called Core Capital.

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The minimum amount of Tier 1 Leverage Capital for capital adequacy purposes divided by average assets as defined in the regulations.

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Tier 1 Risk Based Capital as defined in the regulations.

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Tier 1 capital divided by risk weighted assets as defined by regulations.

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