Description Of The Business	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2021
Description Of The Business [Abstract]
Description Of The Business	1. DESCRIPTION OF THE BUSINESS Graybar Electric Company, Inc. (“Graybar”, “Company”, "we", "our", or "us") is a New York corporation, incorporated in 1925.  We are engaged in the distribution of electrical and communications and data networking products and are a provider of related supply chain management and logistics services.  We primarily serve customers in the construction, commercial, institutional and government ("CIG"), and industrial & utility vertical markets, with products and services that support new construction, infrastructure updates, building renovation, facility maintenance, repair and operations ("MRO"), and original equipment manufacturers ("OEM"). In our primary role as third-party wholesale distributor, we neither manufacture nor contract to manufacture the products that we sell; however, one of our subsidiaries may contract to manufacture some of its private label lighting fixtures.  Our business activity is primarily based in the United States (“U.S.”).  We also have subsidiary operations with distribution facilities in Canada and Puerto Rico.