Shareholders' Equity - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	0 Months Ended								1 Months Ended	9 Months Ended				0 Months Ended						9 Months Ended		0 Months Ended							9 Months Ended	0 Months Ended							9 Months Ended	0 Months Ended				3 Months Ended			0 Months Ended			0 Months Ended						0 Months Ended							0 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 15, 2014	Jul. 31, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 12, 2014	Apr. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Mar. 18, 2014	Jan. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013	Dec. 31, 2013	Jun. 13, 2013	Jul. 21, 2014 Independence Realty Trust Inc	Jan. 29, 2014 Independence Realty Trust Inc	Sep. 30, 2014 Independence Realty Trust Inc	Dec. 31, 2013 Independence Realty Trust Inc	Jul. 21, 2014 Parent Company Independence Realty Trust Inc	Jan. 29, 2014 Parent Company Independence Realty Trust Inc	Sep. 30, 2014 Capital on Demand Sales Agreement	Nov. 21, 2012 Capital on Demand Sales Agreement Maximum	Oct. 31, 2014 Subsequent Event	Jan. 29, 2014 Restricted Stock	Jan. 29, 2014 Restricted Stock Non-management trustees	Jan. 29, 2014 Restricted Stock Executive Officers	Jan. 29, 2014 Restricted Stock Employees	Jan. 29, 2014 Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs)	Sep. 30, 2014 Dividend Reinvestment And Share Purchase Plan	Sep. 30, 2014 Phantom Share Units (PSUs)	Jul. 29, 2014 Preferred Stock	May 13, 2014 Preferred Stock	Jan. 29, 2014 Preferred Stock	Oct. 28, 2014 Preferred Stock Subsequent Event	Sep. 15, 2014 Common Stock	Jun. 12, 2014 Common Stock	Mar. 18, 2014 Common Stock	Sep. 30, 2014 Common Stock	Jul. 29, 2014 7.75% Series A cumulative redeemable preferred shares	Jun. 13, 2014 7.75% Series A cumulative redeemable preferred shares	May 13, 2014 7.75% Series A cumulative redeemable preferred shares	Jan. 29, 2014 7.75% Series A cumulative redeemable preferred shares	Sep. 30, 2014 7.75% Series A cumulative redeemable preferred shares	Dec. 31, 2013 7.75% Series A cumulative redeemable preferred shares	Jun. 13, 2013 7.75% Series A cumulative redeemable preferred shares	Oct. 28, 2014 7.75% Series A cumulative redeemable preferred shares Subsequent Event	Jun. 13, 2014 7.75% Series A cumulative redeemable preferred shares After Reclassification	Jun. 13, 2014 7.75% Series A cumulative redeemable preferred shares Before Reclassification	Jul. 29, 2014 8.375% Series B cumulative redeemable preferred shares	May 13, 2014 8.375% Series B cumulative redeemable preferred shares	Jan. 29, 2014 8.375% Series B cumulative redeemable preferred shares	Sep. 30, 2014 8.375% Series B cumulative redeemable preferred shares	Dec. 31, 2013 8.375% Series B cumulative redeemable preferred shares	Jun. 13, 2013 8.375% Series B cumulative redeemable preferred shares	Oct. 28, 2014 8.375% Series B cumulative redeemable preferred shares Subsequent Event	Jul. 29, 2014 8.875% Series C cumulative redeemable preferred shares	May 13, 2014 8.875% Series C cumulative redeemable preferred shares	Jan. 29, 2014 8.875% Series C cumulative redeemable preferred shares	Sep. 30, 2014 8.875% Series C cumulative redeemable preferred shares	Dec. 31, 2013 8.875% Series C cumulative redeemable preferred shares	Jun. 13, 2013 8.875% Series C cumulative redeemable preferred shares	Oct. 28, 2014 8.875% Series C cumulative redeemable preferred shares Subsequent Event	Jul. 29, 2014 Series D Preferred Stock	May 13, 2014 Series D Preferred Stock	Jan. 29, 2014 Series D Preferred Stock	Oct. 28, 2014 Series D Preferred Stock Subsequent Event	Jun. 13, 2014 Unclassified Preferred Stock	Jun. 13, 2014 Unclassified Preferred Stock	Jun. 13, 2014 Unclassified Preferred Stock After Reclassification	Jun. 13, 2014 Unclassified Preferred Stock Before Reclassification
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Preferred Shares, dividend declared																																						$ 0.484375		$ 0.484375	$ 0.484375				$ 0.484375			$ 0.5234375	$ 0.5234375	$ 0.5234375				$ 0.5234375	$ 0.5546875	$ 0.5546875	$ 0.5546875				$ 0.5546875	$ 0.4687500	$ 0.4687500	$ 0.4687500	$ 0.4687500
Dividend payment date																														Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2014	Oct. 31, 2014	Jul. 31, 2014	Apr. 30, 2014
Dividend record date																														Sep. 02, 2014	Jun. 02, 2014	Mar. 03, 2014	Dec. 01, 2014	Oct. 07, 2014	Jul. 11, 2014	Apr. 04, 2014
Preferred Shares, dividend paid	$ 5,953			$ 5,962			$ 5,329			$ 20,628																											$ 0
Preferred shares aggregate amount to be issued and sold													150,000																															4,000,000									1,000,000							1,000,000
Aggregate of Series A,B,C Preferred Shares available for issuance																																										3,993,719									1,000,000							1,000,000
Cumulative redeemable preferred shares, shares issued																																										6,281
Weighted-average price per share																																										$ 24.57
Net proceeds received from issuance of Preferred Shares																																										150
Reclassification of unclassified preferred shares to Series A preferred shares																																																																		3,309,288
Increase in Series A preferred shares as a result of reclassification																																							3,309,288
Preferred Shares, par value																																										$ 0.01	$ 0.01								$ 0.01	$ 0.01						$ 0.01	$ 0.01								$ 0.01
Preferred shares, authorized										25,000,000		25,000,000																														8,069,288	4,760,000			4,760,000	8,069,288				4,300,000	4,300,000						3,600,000	3,600,000									4,340,000	1,030,712
Common stock, dividend declared		$ 0.18			$ 0.18			$ 0.17
Common stock, dividend paid			14,729			13,914				43,359												14,716															0
Number of phantom units redeemed during that period																													20,530
Number of shares awarded, share																								42,217	293,700	293,700	891,600
Number of shares awarded, value										1,033														350	2,435	2,435	1,178										12
Closing stock price																								$ 8.29	$ 8.29	$ 8.29
Vesting period																							3 years				3 years
Expiration date																											Jan. 29, 2019
Registered and reserved common shares																												10,500,000
Common shares pursuant to the DRSPP										5,603
Weighted-average price per shares																												$ 8.09
Net proceeds received										45
Common shares remaining available under the DRSPP										7,772,217
Common shares to be issued and sold																					10,000,000
Common shares issued										82,509,635		71,447,437								641,139
Weighted-average price per share																				$ 8.26
Net proceeds received from issuance of common shares										85,037	78,873									5,164
Common shares remaining available for issuance																				7,918,819
Common shares in an underwritten public offering									10,000,000					8,050,000	8,050,000
Public offering price									$ 8.52					$ 9.50	$ 8.30
Net proceeds received during period from common share issuance in underwritten public offering									$ 82,570					$ 72,426	$ 62,984
Common shares purchased by us in underwritten public offering																		300,000	1,204,819
Shares outstanding																7,269,719	5,764,900
Ownership percentage																28.20%	59.70%