Consolidated Statements of Income - USD ($) $ in Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2015	Dec. 31, 2014	Dec. 31, 2013
Revenues:
Rental and other property	$ 1,185,498	$ 961,591	$ 603,327
Management and other fees from affiliates	8,909	9,347	7,263
Total revenues	1,194,407	970,938	610,590
Expenses:
Property operating, excluding real estate taxes	234,953	204,673	140,060
Real estate taxes	128,555	107,873	57,276
Depreciation and amortization	453,423	360,592	192,420
General and administrative	40,090	40,878	26,684
Merger and integration expenses	3,798	53,530	4,284
Acquisition and investment related costs	2,414	1,878	1,161
Total expenses	863,233	769,424	421,885
Earnings from operations	331,174	201,514	188,705
Interest expense	(204,827)	(164,551)	(116,524)
Total return swap income	5,655	0	0
Interest and other income	19,143	11,811	11,633
Equity income from co-investments	21,861	39,893	55,865
Loss on early retirement of debt, net	(6,114)	(268)	(300)
Gains on sale of real estate and land	47,333	46,039	1,503
Gains on remeasurement of co-investment	34,014	0	0
Income before discontinued operations	248,239	134,438	140,882
Income from discontinued operations	0	0	31,173
Net income	248,239	134,438	172,055
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	(16,119)	(12,288)	(15,772)
Net income attributable to controlling interest	232,120	122,150	156,283
Dividends to preferred stockholders	(5,255)	(5,291)	(5,472)
Net income available to common stockholders	$ 226,865	$ 116,859	$ 150,811
Basic:
Income before discontinued operations available to common stockholders (in dollars per share)	$ 3.50	$ 2.07	$ 3.26
Income from discontinued operations available to common stockholders (in dollars per share)	0.00	0.00	0.79
Net income available to common stockholders (in dollars per share)	$ 3.50	$ 2.07	$ 4.05
Weighted average number of shares outstanding during the year	64,871,717	56,546,959	37,248,960
Diluted:
Income before discontinued operations available to common stockholders (in dollars per share)	$ 3.49	$ 2.06	$ 3.25
Income from discontinued operations available to common stockholders (in dollars per share)	0.00	0.00	0.79
Net income available to common stockholders (in dollars per share)	$ 3.49	$ 2.06	$ 4.04
Weighted average number of shares outstanding during the year	65,061,685	56,696,525	37,335,295
Essex Portfolio, L.P. [Member]
Revenues:
Rental and other property	$ 1,185,498	$ 961,591	$ 603,327
Management and other fees from affiliates	8,909	9,347	7,263
Total revenues	1,194,407	970,938	610,590
Expenses:
Property operating, excluding real estate taxes	234,953	204,673	140,060
Real estate taxes	128,555	107,873	57,276
Depreciation and amortization	453,423	360,592	192,420
General and administrative	40,090	40,878	26,684
Merger and integration expenses	3,798	53,530	4,284
Acquisition and investment related costs	2,414	1,878	1,161
Total expenses	863,233	769,424	421,885
Earnings from operations	331,174	201,514	188,705
Interest expense	(204,827)	(164,551)	(116,524)
Total return swap income	5,655	0	0
Interest and other income	19,143	11,811	11,633
Equity income from co-investments	21,861	39,893	55,865
Loss on early retirement of debt, net	(6,114)	(268)	(300)
Gains on sale of real estate and land	47,333	46,039	1,503
Gains on remeasurement of co-investment	34,014	0	0
Income before discontinued operations	248,239	134,438	140,882
Income from discontinued operations	0	0	31,173
Net income	248,239	134,438	172,055
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest	(8,295)	(7,421)	(6,834)
Net income attributable to controlling interest	239,944	127,017	165,221
Preferred interest distributions	(5,255)	(5,291)	(5,472)
Net income available to common stockholders	$ 234,689	$ 121,726	$ 159,749
Basic:
Income before discontinued operations available to common stockholders (in dollars per share)	$ 3.50	$ 2.07	$ 3.27
Income from discontinued operations available to common stockholders (in dollars per share)	0.00	0.00	0.79
Net income available to common stockholders (in dollars per share)	$ 3.50	$ 2.07	$ 4.06
Weighted average number of shares outstanding during the year	67,054,184	58,771,666	39,380,385
Diluted:
Income before discontinued operations available to common stockholders (in dollars per share)	$ 3.49	$ 2.07	$ 3.26
Income from discontinued operations available to common stockholders (in dollars per share)	0.00	0.00	0.79
Net income available to common stockholders (in dollars per share)	$ 3.49	$ 2.07	$ 4.05
Weighted average number of shares outstanding during the year	67,244,152	58,921,232	39,466,720