Document And Entity Information - shares	3 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017	Jan. 31, 2018
Document Information [Line Items]
Entity Registrant Name	Natural Grocers by Vitamin Cottage, Inc.
Entity Central Index Key	0001547459
Trading Symbol	ngvc
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--09-30
Entity Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding (in shares)		22,349,282
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2017
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2018
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q1
Amendment Flag	false