Consolidated Statements Of Income - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017	Dec. 31, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015
Income Statement [Abstract]
Rental revenue	$ 468,648	$ 399,589	$ 330,886
Tenant reimbursements	15,555	15,595	16,320
Other income	3,095	9,039	3,629
Mortgage and other financing income	88,693	69,019	70,182
Total revenue	575,991	493,242	421,017
Property operating expense	31,653	22,602	23,433
Other expense	242	5	648
General and administrative expense	43,383	37,543	31,021
Retirement severance expense	0	0	18,578
Costs associated with loan refinancing or payoff	1,549	905	270
Gain on Extinguishment of Debt	(977)	0	0
Interest expense, net	133,124	97,144	79,915
Transaction costs	523	7,869	7,518
Impairment charges	10,195	0	0
Depreciation and amortization	132,946	107,573	89,617
Income before equity in income from joint ventures and other items	223,353	219,601	170,017
Equity in income from joint ventures	72	619	969
Gain on sale of real estate	41,942	5,315	23,829
Income before income taxes	265,367	225,535	194,815
Income tax expense	(2,399)	(553)	(482)
Income from continuing operations	262,968	224,982	194,333
Discontinued operations:
Income from discontinued operations	0	0	199
Net income attributable to EPR Properties	262,968	224,982	194,532
Preferred dividend requirements	(24,293)	(23,806)	(23,806)
Preferred Share Redemption Costs	4,457	0	0
Net income available to common shareholders of EPR Properties	$ 234,218	$ 201,176	$ 170,726
Basic earnings per share data:
Income from continuing operations	$ 3.29	$ 3.17	$ 2.93
Income from discontinued operations	0.00	0.00	0.01
Net income available to common shareholders	3.29	3.17	2.94
Diluted earnings per share data:
Income from continuing operations	3.29	3.17	2.92
Income from discontinued operations	0.00	0.00	0.01
Net income available to common shareholders	$ 3.29	$ 3.17	$ 2.93
Shares used for computation (in thousands):
Basic	71,191	63,381	58,138
Diluted	71,254	63,474	58,328