Document and Entity Information - shares	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2015	Nov. 04, 2015
Document and Entity Information [Abstract]
Entity Registrant Name	GEO GROUP INC
Entity Central Index Key	0000923796
Document Type	10-Q
Trading Symbol	GEO
Document Period End Date	Sep. 30, 2015
Amendment Flag	false
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2015
Document Fiscal Period Focus	Q3
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--12-31
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding		74,655,580