Revenues and NOI for Reportable Segment (Detail) (Parent Company [Member], USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013
Revenues
Total property revenues	$ 244,493	$ 131,659	$ 487,883	$ 259,402
Management fee income	61	142	158	319
Total operating revenues	244,554	131,801	488,041	259,721
Net Operating Income	146,235	81,665	293,861	162,079
Discontinued operations NOI included above	636	(2,827)	(963)	(6,019)
Depreciation and amortization	(69,631)	(32,222)	(159,644)	(64,417)
Acquisition expense	(947)	(489)	(958)	(499)
Property management expense	(9,579)	(5,223)	(16,590)	(10,331)
General and administrative expense	(5,212)	(3,389)	(9,554)	(6,628)
Merger Related Expenses	(795)	(5,737)	(2,871)	(5,737)
Business Combination, Integration Related Costs	(3,151)	0	(6,993)	0
Interest and other non-property income	921	23	1,081	70
Interest expense	(30,163)	(15,189)	(60,839)	(30,734)
Loss on debt extinguishment/modification	0	0	0	(169)
Amortization of deferred financing costs	(1,174)	(803)	(2,485)	(1,607)
Gain on Disposition of Property Plant Equipment	3,658	0	6,222	0
Net casualty (loss) gain and other settlement proceeds	(295)	439	(305)	455
Income Tax Expense	(523)	(223)	(793)	(446)
(Loss) Gain on Disposition of Other Assets	(22)	0	535	0
Gain from real estate joint ventures	2,919	47	2,895	101
Discontinued operations	448	44,814	6,343	46,596
Net Income Attributable to Noncontrolling Interest	(1,773)	(1,939)	(2,621)	(2,764)
Net income attributable to MAA	31,613	59,089	46,479	80,269
Large Market Same Store
Revenues
Total property revenues	62,351	59,936	123,695	118,878
Net Operating Income	37,074	35,487	73,353	70,628
Secondary Market Same Store
Revenues
Total property revenues	61,971	61,298	123,502	121,697
Net Operating Income	36,466	37,006	74,043	74,080
Non-Same Store and Other
Revenues
Total property revenues	120,171	10,425	240,686	18,827
Net Operating Income	$ 72,695	$ 9,172	$ 146,465	$ 17,371