DOCUMENT AND ENTITY INFORMATION - shares	6 Months Ended
	Jan. 31, 2016	Mar. 02, 2016
DOCUMENT AND ENTITY INFORMATION
Entity Registrant Name	MAYS J W INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000054187
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--07-31
Entity Filer Category	Smaller Reporting Company
Trading Symbol	MAYS
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		2,015,780
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Jan. 31, 2016
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q2
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2016