Supplemental Guarantor Information - Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Aug. 31, 2016	May 31, 2016	Aug. 31, 2015	May 31, 2015
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 99,209	$ 139,357	$ 146,860	$ 417,073
Marketable securities	64,558	70,405
Accounts receivable, net	586,372	563,178
Inventories, net	262,156	249,362
Uniforms and other rental items in service	542,124	539,956
Income taxes, current	0	1,712
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	40,329	26,065
Total current assets	1,594,748	1,590,035
Property and equipment, at cost, net	1,033,160	994,237
Investments	140,876	124,952
Goodwill	1,298,375	1,291,593
Service contracts, net	84,792	83,715
Other assets, net	15,194	14,283
Total assets	4,167,145	4,098,815	4,116,465
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	129,650	114,514
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	64,692	101,976
Accrued liabilities	313,888	349,065
Income taxes, current	38,829	0
Debt due within one year	163,800	250,000
Total current liabilities	710,859	815,555
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	1,044,628	1,044,422
Deferred income taxes	255,380	259,475
Accrued liabilities	168,876	136,704
Total long-term liabilities	1,468,884	1,440,601
Total shareholders’ equity	1,987,402	1,842,659
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	4,167,145	4,098,815
Eliminations
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	(1,309)	(3,845)
Uniforms and other rental items in service	(19,317)	(19,722)
Income taxes, current		0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	(20,626)	(23,567)
Property and equipment, at cost, net	0	0
Investments	(3,827,335)	(3,809,602)
Goodwill	(112)	(112)
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	(4,739,908)	(4,601,168)
Total assets	(8,587,981)	(8,434,449)
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	38,120	38,005
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Income taxes, current	0
Debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	38,120	38,005
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	0	0
Total shareholders’ equity	(8,626,101)	(8,472,454)
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	(8,587,981)	(8,434,449)
Cintas Corporation
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	0	0
Uniforms and other rental items in service	0	0
Income taxes, current		0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	0	0
Property and equipment, at cost, net	0	0
Investments	321,083	321,083
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	1,201,072	1,081,203
Total assets	1,522,155	1,402,286
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(465,247)	(465,247)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Income taxes, current	0
Debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	(465,247)	(465,247)
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	0	0
Deferred income taxes	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Total long-term liabilities	0	0
Total shareholders’ equity	1,987,402	1,867,533
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,522,155	1,402,286
Corp. 2
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	37,205	57,893	74,082	74,632
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	452,028	430,335
Inventories, net	234,154	222,823
Uniforms and other rental items in service	449,115	450,065
Income taxes, current		(1,634)
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	15,512	6,824
Total current assets	1,188,014	1,166,306
Property and equipment, at cost, net	632,073	614,656
Investments	1,774,464	1,770,303
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	79,143	81,462
Other assets, net	(460)	(913)
Total assets	3,673,234	3,631,814
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(1,843,480)	(1,773,815)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	47,584	73,545
Accrued liabilities	64,603	84,270
Income taxes, current	4,797
Debt due within one year	163,800	250,000
Total current liabilities	(1,562,696)	(1,366,000)
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	1,044,238	1,044,032
Deferred income taxes	(427)	(427)
Accrued liabilities	38,827	19,628
Total long-term liabilities	1,082,638	1,063,233
Total shareholders’ equity	4,153,292	3,934,581
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	3,673,234	3,631,814
Subsidiary Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	38,230	55,392	45,339	248,716
Marketable securities	0	0
Accounts receivable, net	98,129	97,516
Inventories, net	17,343	19,149
Uniforms and other rental items in service	75,719	73,001
Income taxes, current		2,698
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	23,698	18,279
Total current assets	253,119	266,035
Property and equipment, at cost, net	324,484	305,636
Investments	917,468	901,772
Goodwill	1,257,747	1,256,662
Service contracts, net	9	13
Other assets, net	3,545,468	3,526,051
Total assets	6,298,295	6,256,169
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	2,385,059	2,298,790
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	12,881	23,051
Accrued liabilities	235,678	251,217
Income taxes, current	34,446
Debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	2,668,064	2,573,058
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	0	0
Deferred income taxes	248,215	252,149
Accrued liabilities	129,065	116,091
Total long-term liabilities	377,280	368,240
Total shareholders’ equity	3,252,951	3,314,871
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	6,298,295	6,256,169
Non- Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	23,774	26,072	$ 27,439	$ 93,725
Marketable securities	64,558	70,405
Accounts receivable, net	36,215	35,327
Inventories, net	11,968	11,235
Uniforms and other rental items in service	36,607	36,612
Income taxes, current		648
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	1,119	962
Total current assets	174,241	181,261
Property and equipment, at cost, net	76,603	73,945
Investments	955,196	941,396
Goodwill	40,740	35,043
Service contracts, net	5,640	2,240
Other assets, net	9,022	9,110
Total assets	1,261,442	1,242,995
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	15,198	16,781
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	4,227	5,380
Accrued liabilities	13,607	13,578
Income taxes, current	(414)
Debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	32,618	35,739
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	390	390
Deferred income taxes	7,592	7,753
Accrued liabilities	984	985
Total long-term liabilities	8,966	9,128
Total shareholders’ equity	1,219,858	1,198,128
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	$ 1,261,442	$ 1,242,995