CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (Parenthetical) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Sep. 25, 2021	Dec. 26, 2020
Current assets:
Allowance for doubtful accounts	$ 2,687	$ 1,538
Mueller Industries, Inc. stockholders' equity:
Preferred stock, par value (in dollars per share)	$ 1.00	$ 1.00
Preferred stock, shares authorized (in shares)	5,000,000	5,000,000
Preferred stock, shares outstanding (in shares)	0	0
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share)	$ 0.01	$ 0.01
Common stock, shares authorized (in shares)	100,000,000	100,000,000
Common stock, shares issued (in shares)	80,183,004	80,183,004
Common stock, shares outstanding (in shares)	57,367,709	57,087,432