Document And Entity Information - shares	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2015	Oct. 31, 2015
Common Class B [Member]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding (in shares)		3,502,344
Common Class A [Member]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding (in shares)		20,801,172
Entity Registrant Name	National Research Corporation
Entity Central Index Key	0000070487
Trading Symbol	nrci
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Accelerated Filer
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	No
Document Type	10-Q
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2015
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2015
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Amendment Flag	false