Document and Entity Information (USD $)	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Oct. 26, 2012	Jun. 30, 2011
Document Information [Line Items]
Document Type	10-Q
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2012
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2012
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Trading Symbol	MAA
Entity Registrant Name	MID AMERICA APARTMENT COMMUNITIES INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000912595
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		42,267,542
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Public Float			$ 2,480,831,418