Supplemental Guarantor Information - Condensed Consolidating Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Nov. 30, 2016	May 31, 2016	Nov. 30, 2015	May 31, 2015
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 143,573	$ 139,357	$ 606,785	$ 417,073
Marketable securities	0	70,405
Accounts receivable, net	607,452	563,178
Inventories, net	263,301	249,362
Uniforms and other rental items in service	543,644	539,956
Income taxes, current	1,228	1,712
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	41,464	26,065
Total current assets	1,600,662	1,590,035
Property and equipment, at cost, net	1,067,214	994,237
Investments	140,530	124,952
Goodwill	1,301,391	1,291,593
Service contracts, net	85,517	83,715
Other assets, net	19,265	14,283
Total assets	4,214,579	4,098,815	4,444,610
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	127,815	114,514
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	85,857	101,976
Accrued liabilities	469,085	349,065
Debt due within one year	66,000	250,000
Total current liabilities	748,757	815,555
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	1,044,834	1,044,422
Deferred income taxes	265,091	259,475
Accrued liabilities	130,192	136,704
Total long-term liabilities	1,440,117	1,440,601
Total shareholders’ equity	2,025,705	1,842,659
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	4,214,579	4,098,815
Eliminations
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Marketable securities		0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	(1,989)	(3,845)
Uniforms and other rental items in service	(18,324)	(19,722)
Income taxes, current	0	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	(20,313)	(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	(4,778,570)	(4,601,168)
Total assets	(8,626,330)	(8,434,449)
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	38,115	38,005
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	38,115	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	(8,664,445)	(8,472,454)
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	(8,626,330)	(8,434,449)
Cintas Corporation
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Marketable securities		0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	0	0
Uniforms and other rental items in service	0	0
Income taxes, current	0	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	1,381,960	1,081,203
Total assets	1,703,043	1,402,286
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(465,247)	(465,247)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	2,819	0
Accrued liabilities	139,766	0
Debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	(322,662)	(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	2,025,705	1,867,533
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,703,043	1,402,286
Corp. 2
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	46,561	57,893	109,075	74,632
Marketable securities		0
Accounts receivable, net	467,396	430,335
Inventories, net	236,904	222,823
Uniforms and other rental items in service	449,311	450,065
Income taxes, current	0	(1,634)
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	19,907	6,824
Total current assets	1,220,079	1,166,306
Property and equipment, at cost, net	647,509	614,656
Investments	1,774,863	1,770,303
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	79,583	81,462
Other assets, net	4,209	(913)
Total assets	3,726,243	3,631,814
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(1,759,953)	(1,773,815)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	60,811	73,545
Accrued liabilities	80,290	84,270
Debt due within one year	66,000	250,000
Total current liabilities	(1,552,852)	(1,366,000)
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	1,044,444	1,044,032
Deferred income taxes	(416)	(427)
Accrued liabilities	0	19,628
Total long-term liabilities	1,044,028	1,063,233
Total shareholders’ equity	4,235,067	3,934,581
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	3,726,243	3,631,814
Subsidiary Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	2,425	55,392	463,656	248,716
Marketable securities		0
Accounts receivable, net	104,330	97,516
Inventories, net	16,280	19,149
Uniforms and other rental items in service	77,183	73,001
Income taxes, current	1,233	2,698
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	20,692	18,279
Total current assets	222,143	266,035
Property and equipment, at cost, net	344,036	305,636
Investments	916,723	901,772
Goodwill	1,261,755	1,256,662
Service contracts, net	5	13
Other assets, net	3,402,717	3,526,051
Total assets	6,147,379	6,256,169
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	2,297,808	2,298,790
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	16,936	23,051
Accrued liabilities	234,689	251,217
Debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	2,549,433	2,573,058
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	0	0
Deferred income taxes	257,554	252,149
Accrued liabilities	129,042	116,091
Total long-term liabilities	386,596	368,240
Total shareholders’ equity	3,211,350	3,314,871
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	6,147,379	6,256,169
Non- Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	94,587	26,072	$ 34,054	$ 93,725
Marketable securities		70,405
Accounts receivable, net	35,726	35,327
Inventories, net	12,106	11,235
Uniforms and other rental items in service	35,474	36,612
Income taxes, current	(5)	648
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	865	962
Total current assets	178,753	181,261
Property and equipment, at cost, net	75,669	73,945
Investments	955,196	941,396
Goodwill	39,748	35,043
Service contracts, net	5,929	2,240
Other assets, net	8,949	9,110
Total assets	1,264,244	1,242,995
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	17,092	16,781
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	5,291	5,380
Accrued liabilities	14,340	13,578
Debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	36,723	35,739
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	390	390
Deferred income taxes	7,953	7,753
Accrued liabilities	1,150	985
Total long-term liabilities	9,493	9,128
Total shareholders’ equity	1,218,028	1,198,128
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	$ 1,264,244	$ 1,242,995