Quarterly Results (Unaudited) Quarterly Revised Balance Sheet (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Dec. 31, 2015	Sep. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2015	Mar. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Sep. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2014	Mar. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013	Dec. 31, 2012
Error Corrections and Prior Period Adjustments Restatement [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 131,018	$ 109,458	$ 128,814	$ 118,084	$ 112,371	$ 122,475	$ 114,780	$ 146,327	$ 124,805	$ 136,411
Accounts receivable, net	330,895	340,423	338,196	324,706	346,547	342,480	369,092	341,547
Inventories	190,465	214,237	195,394	168,161	154,221	190,689	192,670	190,105
Deferred tax assets current, net	0	42,921	44,717	44,242	45,504	41,690	42,274	41,766
Other current assets	106,562	121,801	128,298	128,079	123,819	123,535	125,929	116,663
Total current assets	758,940	828,840	835,419	783,272	782,462	820,869	844,745	836,408
Property, plant, and equipment, net	190,256	190,699	194,756	192,064	207,152	221,141	233,571	236,045
Deferred tax assets noncurrent, net	109,387	59,897	73,511	76,308	74,439	67,202	64,127	59,096
Other long-term assets	52,726	48,244	50,387	47,363	46,965	51,187	47,994	47,843
Intangible assets, net	101,932	111,767	117,136	122,431	139,909	155,432	172,927	184,052
Goodwill	468,122	475,410	471,648	462,718	500,820	515,641	541,539	546,437	547,604
Total assets	1,681,363	1,714,857	1,742,857	1,684,156	1,751,747	1,831,472	1,904,903	1,909,881
Liabilities, Current [Abstract]
Accounts payable	185,827	201,447	226,511	196,119	183,831	203,171	209,080	210,676
Other current liabilities	78,630	68,837	60,763	78,819	101,315	62,039	69,064	77,042
Wages and benefits payable	76,980	92,892	84,944	79,443	94,818	91,871	92,814	89,643
Taxes payable	14,859	13,210	16,435	18,740	21,951	18,761	14,456	15,104
Current portion of debt	11,250	11,250	11,250	30,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	28,125
Current portion of warranty	36,927	40,060	35,589	22,256	21,145	22,283	23,689	21,989
Unearned revenue	73,301	67,613	74,524	77,693	67,009	71,364	68,044	63,539
Total current liabilities	477,774	495,309	510,016	503,070	520,069	499,489	507,147	506,118
Long-term debt	359,962	369,457	361,708	331,310	293,969	280,000	297,500	320,000
Long-term warranty	17,585	14,684	22,550	14,809	15,403	18,071	18,860	24,035
Pension plan benefit liability	85,971	94,100	93,918	91,652	101,862	82,529	87,988	89,498
Deferred tax liabilities noncurrent, net	1,723	3,569	3,247	3,289	3,808	7,220	6,297	6,123
Other long-term obligations	115,645	116,415	121,084	107,809	118,094	125,049	118,450	110,168
Total liabilities	$ 1,058,660	1,093,534	1,112,523	1,051,939	$ 1,053,205	1,012,358	1,036,242	1,055,942
Commitments and contingencies (Note 13)
Equity
Preferred Stock, Value, Issued	$ 0	0	0	0	$ 0	0	0	0
Common Stock, Value, Issued	1,246,671	1,246,177	1,255,154	1,257,796	1,270,045	1,288,562	1,293,548	1,291,690
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax	(200,607)	(193,920)	(180,616)	(194,989)	(135,060)	(80,636)	(32,245)	(24,258)
Retained Earnings (Accumulated Deficit)	(441,306)	(450,292)	(462,932)	(448,586)	(453,984)	(406,943)	(410,528)	(431,364)
Total Itron, Inc. shareholders' equity	604,758	601,965	611,606	614,221	681,001	800,983	850,775	836,068
Noncontrolling interests	17,945	19,358	18,728	17,996	17,541	18,131	17,886	17,871
Total equity	622,703	621,323	630,334	632,217	698,542	819,114	868,661	853,939	856,746	998,805
Total liabilities and equity	$ 1,681,363	1,714,857	1,742,857	1,684,156	1,751,747	1,831,472	1,904,903	1,909,881
Scenario, Previously Reported [Member]
Error Corrections and Prior Period Adjustments Restatement [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		109,458	128,814	118,084	112,371	122,475	114,780	146,327	124,805	136,411
Accounts receivable, net		340,423	338,196	324,706	348,389	342,480	369,473	341,547
Inventories		214,237	195,394	168,161	154,504	190,689	192,413	192,573
Deferred tax assets current, net		35,975	38,121	37,700	39,115	34,581	37,103	36,995
Other current assets		106,059	111,248	109,768	104,307	104,847	112,172	104,967
Total current assets		806,152	811,773	758,419	758,686	795,072	825,941	822,409
Property, plant, and equipment, net		190,295	195,510	192,781	207,789	222,354	234,840	237,326
Deferred tax assets noncurrent, net		59,830	73,861	76,479	74,598	67,826	64,641	61,873
Other long-term assets		27,192	28,741	26,390	28,503	31,604	31,862	32,102
Intangible assets, net		111,767	117,136	122,431	139,909	155,432	172,927	184,052
Goodwill		474,965	471,648	462,718	500,820	515,641	541,539	546,437
Total assets		1,670,201	1,698,669	1,639,218	1,710,305	1,787,929	1,871,750	1,884,199
Liabilities, Current [Abstract]
Accounts payable		201,450	226,512	196,117	184,132	203,175	209,080	210,675
Other current liabilities		68,140	60,634	78,683	100,945	62,039	69,064	75,969
Wages and benefits payable		93,206	84,944	79,443	95,248	91,871	93,069	89,129
Taxes payable		13,210	16,435	18,740	21,951	18,491	14,172	14,819
Current portion of debt		11,250	11,250	30,000	30,000	30,000	30,000	28,125
Current portion of warranty		40,060	35,589	22,256	21,063	22,283	23,689	21,989
Unearned revenue		44,639	50,255	53,472	43,436	47,316	53,487	53,457
Total current liabilities		471,955	485,619	478,711	496,775	475,175	492,561	494,163
Long-term debt		369,457	361,708	331,310	293,969	280,000	297,500	320,000
Long-term warranty		14,684	22,550	14,809	15,403	18,071	18,860	24,035
Pension plan benefit liability		94,100	93,918	91,652	101,432	82,529	87,988	89,498
Deferred tax liabilities noncurrent, net		3,569	3,247	3,289	3,808	7,220	6,297	6,123
Other long-term obligations		81,628	86,366	72,550	84,437	87,927	84,608	79,580
Total liabilities		1,035,393	1,053,408	992,321	995,824	950,922	987,814	1,013,399
Equity
Preferred Stock, Value, Issued		0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Common Stock, Value, Issued		1,246,177	1,255,154	1,257,796	1,270,045	1,287,959	1,293,548	1,291,690
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax		(197,543)	(182,742)	(197,214)	(136,514)	(81,725)	(32,832)	(24,836)
Retained Earnings (Accumulated Deficit)		(433,184)	(445,879)	(431,681)	(436,591)	(387,358)	(394,666)	(413,925)
Total Itron, Inc. shareholders' equity		615,450	626,533	628,901	696,940	818,876	866,050	852,929
Noncontrolling interests		19,358	18,728	17,996	17,541	18,131	17,886	17,871
Total equity		634,808	645,261	646,897	714,481	837,007	883,936	870,800		1,009,513
Total liabilities and equity		1,670,201	1,698,669	1,639,218	1,710,305	1,787,929	1,871,750	1,884,199
Restatement Adjustment [Member]
Error Corrections and Prior Period Adjustments Restatement [Line Items]
Cash and cash equivalents		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	$ 0	0
Accounts receivable, net		0	0	0	(1,842)	0	(381)	0
Inventories		0	0	0	(283)	0	257	(2,468)
Deferred tax assets current, net		6,946	6,596	6,542	6,389	7,109	5,171	4,771
Other current assets		15,742	17,050	18,311	19,512	18,688	13,757	11,696
Total current assets		22,688	23,646	24,853	23,776	25,797	18,804	13,999
Property, plant, and equipment, net		404	(754)	(717)	(637)	(1,213)	(1,269)	(1,281)
Deferred tax assets noncurrent, net		67	(350)	(171)	(159)	(624)	(514)	(2,777)
Other long-term assets		21,052	21,646	20,973	18,462	19,583	16,132	15,741
Intangible assets, net		0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Goodwill		445	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total assets		44,656	44,188	44,938	41,442	43,543	33,153	25,682
Liabilities, Current [Abstract]
Accounts payable		(3)	(1)	2	(301)	(4)	0	1
Other current liabilities		697	129	136	370	0	0	1,073
Wages and benefits payable		(314)	0	0	(430)	0	(255)	514
Taxes payable		0	0	0	0	270	284	285
Current portion of debt		0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Current portion of warranty		0	0	0	82	0	0	0
Unearned revenue		22,974	24,269	24,221	23,573	24,048	14,557	10,082
Total current liabilities		23,354	24,397	24,359	23,294	24,314	14,586	11,955
Long-term debt		0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Long-term warranty		0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Pension plan benefit liability		0	0	0	430	0	0	0
Deferred tax liabilities noncurrent, net		0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Other long-term obligations		34,787	34,718	35,259	33,657	37,122	33,842	30,588
Total liabilities		58,141	59,115	59,618	57,381	61,436	48,428	42,543
Equity
Preferred Stock, Value, Issued		0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Common Stock, Value, Issued		0	0	0	0	603	0	0
Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss), Net of Tax		3,623	2,126	2,225	1,454	1,089	587	578
Retained Earnings (Accumulated Deficit)		(17,108)	(17,053)	(16,905)	(17,393)	(19,585)	(15,862)	(17,439)
Total Itron, Inc. shareholders' equity		(13,485)	(14,927)	(14,680)	(15,939)	(17,893)	(15,275)	(16,861)
Noncontrolling interests		0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Total equity		(13,485)	(14,927)	(14,680)	(15,939)	(17,893)	(15,275)	(16,861)		$ (10,708)
Total liabilities and equity		$ 44,656	$ 44,188	$ 44,938	$ 41,442	$ 43,543	$ 33,153	$ 25,682