Net Income per Share - Schedule of calculation of numerator and denominator in earnings per share - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Jan. 31, 2020	Jan. 31, 2019	Jan. 31, 2018
Numerator:
Net income attributable to Raven Industries, Inc.	$ 35,196	$ 51,794	$ 41,022
Denominator:
Weighted average common shares outstanding (in shares)	35,861,255	35,907,041	35,945,225
Weighted average stock units outstanding (in shares)	122,792	99,922	104,980
Denominator for basic calculation (in shares)	35,984,047	36,006,963	36,050,205
Weighted average common shares outstanding (in shares)	35,861,255	35,907,041	35,945,225
Weighted average stock units outstanding (in shares)	122,792	99,922	104,980
Dilutive impact of stock options and RSUs (in shares)	231,708	431,595	399,620
Denominator for diluted calculation (in shares)	36,215,755	36,438,558	36,449,825
Net income per share - basic (in usd per share)	$ 0.98	$ 1.44	$ 1.14
Net income per share - diluted (in usd per share)	$ 0.97	$ 1.42	$ 1.13