Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (Parenthetical) - USD ($)	Sep. 30, 2020	Dec. 31, 2019
Marketable securities, allowance for credit loss	$ 13,644,000	$ 0
Notes and other receivables, allowance for credit loss	172,000	0
Related party receivables	$ 5,500,000	$ 90,200,000
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share)	$ 0.0001	$ 0.0001
Common stock, shares authorized (in shares)	670,000,000	670,000,000
Common stock, shares issued (in shares)	65,209,946	66,091,954
Common stock, shares outstanding (in shares)	65,209,946	66,091,954
Essex Portfolio, L.P.
Marketable securities, allowance for credit loss	$ 13,600,000	$ 0
Notes and other receivables, allowance for credit loss	200,000	0
Related party receivables	$ 5,500,000	$ 90,200,000
Essex Portfolio, L.P. | General Partner
Common stock, shares issued (in shares)	65,209,946	66,091,954
Common stock, shares outstanding (in shares)	65,209,946	66,091,954
Essex Portfolio, L.P. | Limited Partners
Common stock, shares issued (in shares)	2,295,510	2,301,653
Common stock, shares outstanding (in shares)	2,295,510	2,301,653