Marketable Securities (Schedule of classified marketable securities) (Details) - USD ($)	Oct. 31, 2019	Jul. 31, 2019
Marketable Securities [Line Items]
Fair Value	$ 3,603,985	$ 3,580,227
Noncurrent [Member]
Marketable Securities [Line Items]
Fair Value	3,603,985	3,580,227
Gross Unrealized Gains	1,061,900	1,078,765
Gross Unrealized Losses	2,421
Cost	2,544,506	2,501,462
Noncurrent [Member] \| Mutual Funds [Member]
Marketable Securities [Line Items]
Fair Value	1,119,578	1,109,731
Gross Unrealized Gains	272,803	264,425
Gross Unrealized Losses
Cost	846,775	845,306
Noncurrent [Member] \| Corporate Equity Securities [Member]
Marketable Securities [Line Items]
Fair Value	2,484,407	2,470,496
Gross Unrealized Gains	789,097	814,340
Gross Unrealized Losses	2,421
Cost	$ 1,697,731	$ 1,656,156

Amount of investment in debt and equity securities categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading.

No definition available.

Name:	us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecurities
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount before tax of unrealized gain in accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) on investments in debt and equity securities classified as available-for-sale.

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118939692&loc=d3e27161-111563

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesAccumulatedGrossUnrealizedGainBeforeTax
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount before tax of unrealized loss in accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) on investments in debt and equity securities classified as available-for-sale.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesAccumulatedGrossUnrealizedLossBeforeTax
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

This item represents the cost of debt and equity securities, which are categorized neither as held-to-maturity nor trading, net of adjustments including accretion, amortization, collection of cash, previous other-than-temporary impairments recognized in earnings (less any cumulative-effect adjustments recognized, as defined), and fair value hedge accounting adjustments, if any.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesAmortizedCost
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_MarketableSecuritiesLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_BalanceSheetLocationAxis=mays_NoncurrentMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_MutualFundMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=us-gaap_EquitySecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: