Consolidated Statements of Operations (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010
Operating revenues:
Rental revenues	$ 456,202	$ 393,142	$ 348,522
Other property revenues	40,064	36,647	30,936
Total property revenues	496,266	429,789	379,458
Management fee income	899	1,017	680	[1]
Total operating revenues	497,165	430,806	380,138
Property operating expenses:
Personnel	57,190	51,679	47,816
Building repairs and maintenance	15,957	14,656	13,760
Real estate taxes and insurance	56,907	48,769	43,220
Utilities	27,248	25,188	22,571
Landscaping	11,163	10,328	9,558
Other operating	34,861	31,957	26,663
Depreciation and amortization	126,136	110,870	98,384	[1]
Total property operating expenses	329,462	293,447	261,972
Acquisition expenses	1,581	3,319	2,512	[1]
Property management expenses	22,084	20,700	18,035	[1]
General and administrative expenses	13,762	18,123	12,354	[1]
Income from continuing operations before non-operating items	130,276	95,217	85,265
Interest and other non-property income	430	802	903	[1]
Interest expense	(58,751)	(57,415)	(54,632)	[1]
Loss on debt extinguishment/modification	(654)	(755)	0	[1]
Amortization of deferred financing costs	(3,552)	(2,902)	(2,627)	[1]
Net casualty (loss) gain after insurance and other settlement proceeds	(6)	(619)	314	[1]
Gain on sale of non-depreciable assets	45	1,084	0	[1]
Gain on properties acquired from joint ventures	0	0	752	[1]
Income from continuing operations before loss from real estate joint ventures	67,788	35,412	29,975
Loss from real estate joint ventures	(223)	(593)	(1,149)	[1]
Income from continuing operations	67,565	34,819	28,826
Discontinued operations:
Income from discontinued operations before gain (loss) on sale	577	3,625	2,051
Net casualty loss on insurance and other settlement proceeds on discontinued operations	48	(12)	0
Gain (loss) on sale of discontinued operations	41,635	12,799	(2)
Consolidated net income	109,825	51,231	30,875
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	4,602	2,410	1,114	[1]
Net income attributable to MAA	105,223	48,821	29,761	[1]
Preferred dividend distributions	0	0	6,549
Premiums and original issuance costs associated with the redemption of preferred stock	0	0	5,149
Net income available for MAA common shareholders	$ 105,223	$ 48,821	$ 18,063
Earnings per common share - basic:
Income from continuing operations available for common shareholders (dollars per share)	$ 1.58	$ 0.90	$ 0.50
Discontinued property operations (dollars per share)	$ 0.98	$ 0.42	$ 0.07
Net income available for common shareholders (dollars per share)	$ 2.56	$ 1.32	$ 0.57
Earnings per share - diluted:
Income from continuing operations available for common shareholders (dollars per share)	$ 1.57	$ 0.89	$ 0.49
Discontinued property operations (dollars per share)	$ 0.99	$ 0.42	$ 0.07
Net income available for common shareholders (dollars per share)	$ 2.56	$ 1.31	$ 0.56
Dividends declared per common share (dollars per share)	$ 2.675	$ 2.5425	$ 2.4725

[1] The 2010 column shows the segment break down based on the 2011 same store portfolios. A comparison using the 2012 same store portfolio would not be comparative due to the nature of the classifications.