Revenues and NOI for Reportable Segment (Detail) - Parent Company [Member] - USD ($) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2015	Sep. 30, 2014
Segment Information
Total property revenues	$ 261,998	$ 249,563	$ 779,441	$ 738,959
Management fee income	0	11	0	154
Total operating revenues	261,998	249,574	779,441	739,113
Net Operating Income	160,399	148,681	476,338	443,653
Discontinued operations NOI included above	0	0	0	(1,102)
Depreciation and amortization	(73,098)	(70,222)	(220,606)	(229,866)
Acquisition expense	(656)	(13)	(2,155)	(971)
Property management expense	(7,628)	(7,429)	(23,106)	(24,019)
General and administrative expense	(5,879)	(6,511)	(19,103)	(16,065)
Merger related expenses	0	(331)	0	(3,202)
Integration costs	0	(147)	0	(7,140)
Interest and other non-property (expense) income	(179)	37	(359)	1,077
Interest expense	(29,342)	(28,251)	(88,801)	(89,090)
Loss on debt extinguishment	(5)	(2,586)	(3,384)	(2,586)
Amortization of deferred financing costs	(887)	(1,000)	(2,710)	(3,485)
Gain on sale of depreciable real estate assets excluded from discontinued operations	54,621	36,032	190,031	42,254
Net casualty loss after insurance and other settlement proceeds	(5)	(126)	485	(431)
Income tax expense	(512)	(442)	(1,419)	(1,235)
Gain on sale of non-depreciable real estate assets	0	0	172	535
Gain (loss) from real estate joint ventures	(1)	3,124	(5)	6,019
Discontinued operations	0	(108)	0	5,319
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	(5,094)	(3,743)	(16,078)	(6,364)
Net income attributable to MAA	91,734	66,976	289,300	113,455
Large Market Same Store
Segment Information
Total property revenues	149,642	140,452	438,184	411,851
Net Operating Income	91,237	84,084	266,941	247,256
Secondary Market Same Store
Segment Information
Total property revenues	82,494	78,413	242,908	231,852
Net Operating Income	50,864	47,365	149,800	141,731
Non-Same Store and Other
Segment Information
Total property revenues	29,862	30,698	98,349	95,256
Net Operating Income	$ 18,298	$ 17,232	$ 59,597	$ 54,666