Supplemental Guarantor Information - Consolidating Condensed Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($)	Feb. 28, 2017	May 31, 2016	Feb. 29, 2016	May 31, 2015
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 147,244,000	$ 139,357,000	$ 315,116,000	$ 417,073,000
Marketable securities	0	70,405,000
Accounts receivable, net	598,863,000	563,178,000
Inventories, net	272,181,000	249,362,000
Uniforms and other rental items in service	539,730,000	539,956,000
Income taxes, current	20,560,000	1,712,000
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	51,363,000	26,065,000
Total current assets	1,629,941,000	1,590,035,000
Property and equipment, at cost, net	1,090,209,000	994,237,000
Investments	148,168,000	124,952,000
Goodwill	1,303,038,000	1,291,593,000
Service contracts, net	83,720,000	83,715,000
Other assets, net	16,088,000	14,283,000
Total assets	4,271,164,000	4,098,815,000	4,231,210,000
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	127,940,000	114,514,000
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	95,353,000	101,976,000
Accrued liabilities	321,324,000	349,065,000
Debt due within one year	399,351,000	250,000,000
Total current liabilities	943,968,000	815,555,000
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	745,189,000	1,044,422,000
Deferred income taxes	267,065,000	259,475,000
Accrued liabilities	136,684,000	136,704,000
Total long-term liabilities	1,148,938,000	1,440,601,000
Total shareholders’ equity	2,178,258,000	1,842,659,000
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	4,271,164,000	4,098,815,000
Eliminations
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	0	0	0	0
Marketable securities		0
Accounts receivable, net	0	0
Inventories, net	(2,167,000)	(3,845,000)
Uniforms and other rental items in service	(17,729,000)	(19,722,000)
Income taxes, current	0	0
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	0	0
Total current assets	(19,896,000)	(23,567,000)
Property and equipment, at cost, net	0	0
Investments	(3,833,210,000)	(3,809,602,000)
Goodwill	(112,000)	(112,000)
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	(4,931,947,000)	(4,601,168,000)
Total assets	(8,785,165,000)	(8,434,449,000)
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	38,119,000	38,005,000
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	38,119,000	38,005,000
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	(8,823,284,000)	(8,472,454,000)
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	(8,785,165,000)	(8,434,449,000)
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	321,083,000	321,083,000
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	0	0
Other assets, net	1,391,929,000	1,081,203,000
Total assets	1,713,012,000	1,402,286,000
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(465,246,000)	(465,247,000)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	0	0
Accrued liabilities	0	0
Debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	(465,246,000)	(465,247,000)
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	2,178,258,000	1,867,533,000
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,713,012,000	1,402,286,000
Corp. 2
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	42,774,000	57,893,000	131,029,000	74,632,000
Marketable securities		0
Accounts receivable, net	459,768,000	430,335,000
Inventories, net	244,455,000	222,823,000
Uniforms and other rental items in service	446,403,000	450,065,000
Income taxes, current	(12,520,000)	(1,634,000)
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	27,233,000	6,824,000
Total current assets	1,208,113,000	1,166,306,000
Property and equipment, at cost, net	660,977,000	614,656,000
Investments	1,775,947,000	1,770,303,000
Goodwill	0	0
Service contracts, net	77,877,000	81,462,000
Other assets, net	937,000	(913,000)
Total assets	3,723,851,000	3,631,814,000
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	(1,810,057,000)	(1,773,815,000)
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	70,302,000	73,545,000
Accrued liabilities	65,543,000	84,270,000
Debt due within one year	399,351,000	250,000,000
Total current liabilities	(1,274,861,000)	(1,366,000,000)
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	744,799,000	1,044,032,000
Deferred income taxes	(420,000)	(427,000)
Accrued liabilities	0	19,628,000
Total long-term liabilities	744,379,000	1,063,233,000
Total shareholders’ equity	4,254,333,000	3,934,581,000
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	3,723,851,000	3,631,814,000
Subsidiary Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	9,223,000	55,392,000	151,492,000	248,716,000
Marketable securities		0
Accounts receivable, net	103,475,000	97,516,000
Inventories, net	17,071,000	19,149,000
Uniforms and other rental items in service	75,754,000	73,001,000
Income taxes, current	32,327,000	2,698,000
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	23,317,000	18,279,000
Total current assets	261,167,000	266,035,000
Property and equipment, at cost, net	348,996,000	305,636,000
Investments	923,278,000	901,772,000
Goodwill	1,262,996,000	1,256,662,000
Service contracts, net	0	13,000
Other assets, net	3,546,292,000	3,526,051,000
Total assets	6,342,729,000	6,256,169,000
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	2,344,761,000	2,298,790,000
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	19,953,000	23,051,000
Accrued liabilities	242,206,000	251,217,000
Debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	2,606,920,000	2,573,058,000
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	0	0
Deferred income taxes	259,562,000	252,149,000
Accrued liabilities	135,522,000	116,091,000
Total long-term liabilities	395,084,000	368,240,000
Total shareholders’ equity	3,340,725,000	3,314,871,000
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	6,342,729,000	6,256,169,000
Non- Guarantors
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	95,247,000	26,072,000	$ 32,595,000	$ 93,725,000
Marketable securities		70,405,000
Accounts receivable, net	35,620,000	35,327,000
Inventories, net	12,822,000	11,235,000
Uniforms and other rental items in service	35,302,000	36,612,000
Income taxes, current	753,000	648,000
Prepaid expenses and other current assets	813,000	962,000
Total current assets	180,557,000	181,261,000
Property and equipment, at cost, net	80,236,000	73,945,000
Investments	961,070,000	941,396,000
Goodwill	40,154,000	35,043,000
Service contracts, net	5,843,000	2,240,000
Other assets, net	8,877,000	9,110,000
Total assets	1,276,737,000	1,242,995,000
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable	20,363,000	16,781,000
Accrued compensation and related liabilities	5,098,000	5,380,000
Accrued liabilities	13,575,000	13,578,000
Debt due within one year	0	0
Total current liabilities	39,036,000	35,739,000
Long-term liabilities:
Debt due after one year	390,000	390,000
Deferred income taxes	7,923,000	7,753,000
Accrued liabilities	1,162,000	985,000
Total long-term liabilities	9,475,000	9,128,000
Total shareholders’ equity	1,228,226,000	1,198,128,000
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	$ 1,276,737,000	$ 1,242,995,000