Earnings Per Common Share of MAA (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands		3 Months Ended		6 Months Ended
		Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2017	Jun. 30, 2016
Earnings Per Share Disclosure [Line Items]
Dividends, Preferred Stock, Cash					$ 0
Parent Company [Member]
Earnings Per Share Disclosure [Line Items]
Weighted average common shares - basic		113,403	75,277	113,371	75,263
Weighted average partnership units outstanding	[1]	0	0	0	0
Effect of dilutive securities	[2]	211	0	279	239
Weighted average common shares - diluted		113,614	75,277	113,650	75,502
Dividends, Preferred Stock, Cash				$ 1,844
Calculation of Basic Earnings per Share [Member] | Parent Company [Member]
Earnings Per Share Disclosure [Line Items]
Income from continuing operations		$ 50,155	$ 47,630	93,571	$ 93,438
Income from continuing operations attributable to noncontrolling interests		(1,840)	(2,486)	(3,351)	(4,881)
Income from continuing operations allocated to unvested restricted shares		(76)	(134)	(149)	(237)
Dividends, Preferred Stock, Cash		(922)	0	(1,844)	0
Income from continuing operations available for common shareholders, adjusted		$ 47,317	$ 45,010	$ 88,227	$ 88,320
Earnings per share - basic		$ 0.42	$ 0.60	$ 0.78	$ 1.17
Calculation of Diluted Earnings per Share [Member] | Parent Company [Member]
Earnings Per Share Disclosure [Line Items]
Income from continuing operations		$ 50,155	$ 47,630	$ 93,571	$ 93,438
Income from continuing operations attributable to noncontrolling interests	[1]	(1,840)	(2,486)	(3,351)	(4,881)
Income from continuing operations allocated to unvested restricted shares	[2]	0	(134)	0	0
Dividends, Preferred Stock, Cash		(922)		(1,844)	0
Income from continuing operations available for common shareholders, adjusted		$ 47,393	$ 45,010	$ 88,376	$ 88,557
Earnings per share - diluted		$ 0.42	$ 0.60	$ 0.78	$ 1.17
Limited Partnership Units [Member] | Parent Company [Member]
Earnings Per Share Disclosure [Line Items]
Antidilutive Securities Excluded from Computation of Earnings Per Share, Amount				4,200

[1] (1) For both the three and six months ended June 30, 2017 and June 30, 2016, 4.2 million OP Units and their related income are not included in the diluted earnings per share calculations as they are not dilutive.

[2] (2) For the three months ended June 30, 2016, 0.2 million potentially dilutive securities and their related income are not included in the diluted earnings per share calculations as they are not dilutive.