CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME - USD ($) shares in Thousands, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 27, 2021	Mar. 28, 2020
Income Statement [Abstract]
Net sales	$ 818,148	$ 602,919
Cost of goods sold	668,418	508,715
Depreciation and amortization	11,755	11,039
Selling, general, and administrative expense	45,435	42,752
Asset impairments	0	3,035
Litigation settlement, net	0	(21,933)
Operating income	92,540	59,311
Interest expense	(4,469)	(5,379)
Other income, net	577	278
Income before income taxes	88,648	54,210
Income tax expense	(21,761)	(14,144)
Loss from unconsolidated affiliates, net of foreign tax	(1,649)	(6,115)
Consolidated net income	65,238	33,951
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests	(2,131)	(1,536)
Net income attributable to Mueller Industries, Inc.	$ 63,107	$ 32,415
Weighted average shares for basic earnings per share (in shares)	55,916	55,875
Effect of dilutive stock-based awards (in shares)	756	583
Adjusted weighted average shares for diluted earnings per share (in shares)	56,672	56,458
Basic earnings per share (in dollars per share)	$ 1.13	$ 0.58
Diluted earnings per share (in dollars per share)	1.11	0.57
Dividends per share (in dollars per share)	$ 0.13	$ 0.10