Credit Facility Additional Information (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands		9 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
		Sep. 30, 2016	Dec. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2016	Jun. 23, 2015
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Write off of Deferred Debt Issuance Cost			$ 800
Debt Instrument, Face Amount					$ 725,000
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity					500,000
Swingline sub-facility [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity		$ 50,000
Line of credit facility, amount outstanding		0
USD Denominated Term Loan [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Face Amount					$ 225,000
Line of Credit [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Line of credit facility, amount outstanding		132,597	151,837
Line of Credit Facility, Remaining Borrowing Capacity	[1]	321,332	301,589
Standby Letters of Credit [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Maximum Borrowing Capacity		250,000		$ 300,000
Letters of Credit Outstanding, Amount		46,100
Line of Credit Facility, Remaining Borrowing Capacity		$ 203,900
Secured Debt [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Collateral		All obligations under the 2015 credit facility are guaranteed by Itron, Inc. and material U.S. domestic subsidiaries and are secured by a pledge of substantially all of the assets of Itron, Inc. and material U.S. domestic subsidiaries, including a pledge of 100% of the capital stock of material U.S. domestic subsidiaries and up to 66% of the voting stock (100% of the non-voting stock) of their first-tier foreign subsidiaries. In addition, the obligations of any foreign subsidiary who is a foreign borrower, as defined by the 2015 credit facility, are guaranteed by the foreign subsidiary and by its direct and indirect foreign parents.
Minimum [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Unused Capacity, Commitment Fee Percentage		0.175%
Maximum [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Line of Credit Facility, Unused Capacity, Commitment Fee Percentage		0.30%
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Description of Variable Rate Basis		the LIBOR rate
Applicable Interest Rate		1.78%
EURIBOR [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Description of Variable Rate Basis		EURIBOR rate
Debt Instrument, Basis Spread on Variable Rate		1.25%
Applicable Interest Rate		1.25%
Alternate base rate (1) [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Description of Variable Rate Basis		the prime rate
Alternate base rate (2) [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Description of Variable Rate Basis		the Federal Reserve effective rate
Alternate base rate (3) [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Description of Variable Rate Basis		one month LIBOR
Debt Instrument, Basis Spread on Variable Rate		1.00%
Alternate base rate [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Description of Variable Rate Basis		Alternate Base Rate
Deferred Costs [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Payments of Debt Issuance Costs			3,900
Scheduled Quarterly Repayments September 2014 through June 2017 [Domain] | USD Denominated Term Loan [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Repayments of Secured Debt		$ 2,800
Scheduled Quarterly Repayments September 2017 through June 2018 [Domain] | USD Denominated Term Loan [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Repayments of Secured Debt		4,200
Scheduled Quarterly Repayments September 2018 through March 2020 [Domain] | USD Denominated Term Loan [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Repayments of Secured Debt		5,600
Reported Value Measurement [Member] | Line of Credit [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Line of credit facility, amount outstanding		$ 132,597	$ 151,837
Alternate base rate (2) [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Basis Spread on Variable Rate		0.50%
London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Debt Instrument, Basis Spread on Variable Rate		1.25%

[1] Refer to Note 6 for details regarding our secured credit facilities.