Document And Entity Information - USD ($)	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2017	Feb. 28, 2018	Jun. 30, 2017
Document Information [Line Items]
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
Entity Public Float			$ 458,611,975
Document Type	10-K
Document Period End Date	Dec. 31, 2017
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2017
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Amendment Flag	false
Common Class A [Member]
Document Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding (in shares)		20,970,575
Common Class B [Member]
Document Information [Line Items]
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding (in shares)		3,540,857