Net Income Per Common Share and Net Income Per Common Unit (Details) - USD ($) $ / shares in Units, $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2024	Mar. 31, 2023
Basic:
Net income available to common stockholders	$ 272,731	$ 153,532
Weighted average common shares/units (in shares)	64,205,086	64,458,535
Net income available to common stockholders/unitholders (in dollars per share)	$ 4.25	$ 2.38
Diluted:
Net income available to common stockholders/unitholders	$ 272,731	$ 153,532
Income from continuing operations available to common stockholders (in shares)	64,212,006	64,459,689
Net income available to common stockholders/unitholders (in dollars per share)	$ 4.25	$ 2.38
Essex Portfolio, L.P.
Basic:
Net income available to common stockholders	$ 282,330	$ 158,936
Weighted average common shares/units (in shares)	66,463,899	66,724,428
Net income available to common stockholders/unitholders (in dollars per share)	$ 4.25	$ 2.38
Diluted:
Net income available to common stockholders/unitholders	$ 282,330	$ 158,936
Income from continuing operations available to common stockholders (in shares)	66,470,819	66,725,582
Net income available to common stockholders/unitholders (in dollars per share)	$ 4.25	$ 2.38
Stock options
Basic:
Income effect of dilutive securities	$ 0	$ 0
Effect of dilutive securities (in shares)	6,920	1,154
Diluted:
Antidilutive securities excluded from computation of earnings per share, amount (in shares)	395,585
Stock options | Essex Portfolio, L.P.
Basic:
Income effect of dilutive securities	$ 0	$ 0
Effect of dilutive securities (in shares)	6,920	1,154
Diluted:
Antidilutive securities excluded from computation of earnings per share, amount (in shares)	395,585	476,748
Convertible units
Diluted:
Antidilutive securities excluded from computation of earnings per share, amount (in shares)	2,258,812	2,265,893
Income allocated to convertible OP Units	$ 9,600	$ 5,400