Earnings Per Unit of the Operating Partnership (Details) (Tanger Properties Limited Partnership [Member], USD $) In Thousands, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	1 Months Ended	3 Months Ended
	Jan. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Tanger Properties Limited Partnership [Member]
Numerator
Net income attributable to partners of the Operating Partnership		$ 36,367	$ 15,419
Less allocation of earnings to participating securities		(408)	(429)
Net income available to common shareholders/unitholders of Tanger Factory Outlet Centers, Inc./the Operating Partnership		$ 35,959	$ 14,990
Denominator
Basic weighted average common shares (in shares)		99,614,000	98,720,000
Effect of notional units (in shares)		82,000	0
Effect of outstanding options and restricted common shares (in shares)		79,000	69,000
Diluted weighted average common shares (in shares)		99,775,000	98,789,000
Basic earnings per common unit:
Net income, basic (in dollars per share)		$ 0.36	$ 0.15
Diluted earnings per common unit:
Net income, diluted (in dollars per share)		$ 0.36	$ 0.15
Number of notional units converted to restricted common units	933,769
Antidilutive securities excluded from computation of earnings per share (in shares)		252,000	279,000