UNAUDITED CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2019	Sep. 30, 2020	Sep. 30, 2019
Income Statement [Abstract]
Revenue	$ 599,255	$ 512,109	$ 1,773,567	$ 1,476,333
Expense:
Cost of services	465,108	410,516	1,371,378	1,177,246
Rent—cost of services	32,504	31,875	97,318	93,278
General and administrative expense	32,817	25,514	96,493	78,622
Depreciation and amortization	13,757	13,405	41,082	37,700
Total expenses	544,186	481,310	1,606,271	1,386,846
Income from operations	55,069	30,799	167,296	89,487
Other income (expense):
Interest expense	(1,740)	(3,900)	(7,698)	(11,513)
Interest and other income	850	732	2,630	1,857
Other expense, net	(890)	(3,168)	(5,068)	(9,656)
Income before provision for income taxes	54,179	27,631	162,228	79,831
Provision for income taxes	10,866	5,093	37,026	14,944
Net income from continuing operations	43,313	22,538	125,202	64,887
Net income from discontinued operations, net of tax (Note 4)	0	5,290	0	19,473
Net income	43,313	27,828	125,202	84,360
Less:
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests in continuing operations	253	390	1,045	591
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests in discontinued operations (Note 4)	0	279	0	629
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	253	669	1,045	1,220
Net income attributable to The Ensign Group, Inc.	43,060	27,159	124,157	83,140
Amounts attributable to The Ensign Group, Inc.:
Income from continuing operations attributable to The Ensign Group, Inc.	43,060	22,148	124,157	64,296
Income from discontinued operations, net of income tax (Note 4)	0	5,011	0	18,844
Net income attributable to The Ensign Group, Inc.	$ 43,060	$ 27,159	$ 124,157	$ 83,140
Basic:
Continuing operations (in dollars per share)	$ 0.81	$ 0.41	$ 2.33	$ 1.20
Discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	0	0.09	0	0.35
Basic income per share attributable to The Ensign Group, Inc. (in dollars per share)	0.81	0.50	2.33	1.55
Diluted:
Continuing operations (in dollars per share)	0.77	0.39	2.23	1.15
Discontinued operations (in dollars per share)	0	0.09	0	0.33
Diluted income per share attributable to The Ensign Group, Inc.(in dollars per share)	$ 0.77	$ 0.48	$ 2.23	$ 1.48
Weighted average common shares outstanding:
Basic (in shares)	53,328	53,941	53,299	53,470
Diluted (in shares)	55,713	56,364	55,585	56,054