Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2020	Mar. 31, 2019
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 296,688	$ 223,949
Cost of revenues	(261,443)	(204,446)
Gross profit	35,245	19,503
General and administrative expense	(17,604)	(11,889)
Intangible asset amortization	(2,837)	(600)
Acquisition related costs	(473)	0
Other operating expense, net	(2,228)	(2,294)
Operating income	12,103	4,720
Interest income	99	364
Interest expense	(7,803)	(3,060)
Income before income taxes	4,399	2,024
Income tax expense	(1,184)	(163)
Net income	3,215	1,861
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	(100)	(46)
Net income attributable to Sterling common stockholders	$ 3,115	$ 1,815
Net income per share attributable to Sterling common stockholders:
Basic (in dollars per share)	$ 0.11	$ 0.07
Diluted (in dollars per share)	$ 0.11	$ 0.07
Weighted average common shares outstanding:
Basic (in shares)	27,736	26,377
Diluted (in shares)	27,992	26,723