Document And Entity Information (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2013	Jun. 28, 2013	Feb. 21, 2014 Common Class A [Member]	Feb. 21, 2014 Common Class B [Member]
Document Information [Line Items]
Entity Registrant Name	NATIONAL RESEARCH CORP
Document Type	10-K
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding			20,795,772	3,478,128
Entity Public Float		$ 201,088,365
Amendment Flag	false
Entity Central Index Key	0000070487
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2013
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2013
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY