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Organization and Basis of Presentation - Narrative (Details) $ in Thousands | 3 Months Ended | 6 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended |  |  |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Jun. 30, 2020 USD ($) community building investment partnership apartment project shares | Jun. 30, 2019 USD ($) | Jun. 30, 2020 USD ($) community building investment partnership apartment project shares | Jun. 30, 2019 USD ($) | Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($) community investment partnership shares | Mar. 31, 2020 USD ($) | Mar. 31, 2019 USD ($) | Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)
Real Estate Properties [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Apartment communities owned (in communities) | community | 248 |  | 248 |  |  |  |  |
Apartment units owned (in apartments) | apartment | 60,341 |  | 60,341 |  |  |  |  |
Ownership interest, number of commercial buildings (in commercial buildings) | building | 1 |  | 1 |  |  |  |  |
Ownership interest, number of active development projects (in projects) | project | 4 |  | 4 |  |  |  |  |
Ownership interest, number of unconsolidated joint venture projects (in projects) | project | 3 |  | 3 |  |  |  |  |
Accounting standards update [Extensible List] | us-gaap:AccountingStandardsUpdate201613Member |  | us-gaap:AccountingStandardsUpdate201613Member | us-gaap:AccountingStandardsUpdate201613Member | us-gaap:AccountingStandardsUpdate201613Member |  |  |
Cumulative effect adjustment | $ 6,352,881 | $ 6,345,116 | $ 6,352,881 | $ 6,345,116 | $ 6,403,504 | $ 6,417,949 | $ 6,317,195 | $ 6,393,844
Equity securities | 2,700 |  | 2,700 |  | $ 3,600 |  |  |
Sales and maturities of marketable securities | 4,100 | 33,400 | 4,300 | 50,200 |  |  |  |
Marketable securities, realized gain (loss) | $ 46 | 600 | 33 | 500 |  |  |  |
Gain (loss) on sale of equity securities |  |  | $ (1,073) | 4,454 |  |  |  |
DownREIT limited partnerships consolidated by company (in partnerships) | partnership | 17 |  | 17 |  | 17 |  |  |
Communities within DownREIT partnerships (in communities) | community | 9 |  | 9 |  | 9 |  |  |
Number of previously consolidated co-investments considered VIE (in investments) | investment | 5 |  | 5 |  | 6 |  |  |
Assets related to variable interest entities net of intercompany eliminations | $ 900,000 |  | $ 900,000 |  | $ 1,000,000 |  |  |
Liabilities related to variable interest entities net of intercompany eliminations | 327,700 |  | 327,700 |  | 364,300 |  |  |
Noncontrolling interest in variable interest entity | 121,500 |  | 121,500 |  | 122,500 |  |  |
Fixed rate debt carrying amount | 5,500,000 |  | 5,500,000 |  | 5,200,000 |  |  |
Fixed rate debt fair value | 6,000,000 |  | 6,000,000 |  | 5,400,000 |  |  |
Variable rate debt, carrying amount | 805,100 |  | 805,100 |  | 660,400 |  |  |
Variable rate debt fair value | 799,800 |  | 799,800 |  | 655,800 |  |  |
Investments in mortgage back securities, fair value | 77,600 |  | 77,600 |  | 72,700 |  |  |
Capitalized internal costs related to development and redevelopment projects | 8,900 | 10,400 | 18,800 | 21,100 |  |  |  |
Redeemable noncontrolling interest | 33,241 |  | 33,241 |  | 37,410 |  |  |
Mortgage backed securities |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Real Estate Properties [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Investments in mortgage backed securities, carrying value | 77,511 |  | 77,511 |  | $ 72,651 |  |  |
Interest And Other Income |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Real Estate Properties [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Gain (loss) on sale of equity securities | $ 7,600 | (56) | $ (1,100) | $ 4,500 |  |  |  |
Essex Portfolio, L.P. |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Real Estate Properties [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Operating Partnership units outstanding (in shares) | shares | 2,295,510 |  | 2,295,510 |  | 2,301,653 |  |  |
Redemption value of operating partnership units outstanding | $ 526,100 |  | $ 526,100 |  | $ 692,500 |  |  |
Accounting standards update [Extensible List] | us-gaap:AccountingStandardsUpdate201613Member |  | us-gaap:AccountingStandardsUpdate201613Member | us-gaap:AccountingStandardsUpdate201613Member |  |  |  |
Gain (loss) on sale of equity securities |  |  | $ (1,073) | $ 4,454 |  |  |  |
Redeemable noncontrolling interest | $ 33,241 |  | $ 33,241 |  | $ 37,410 |  |  |
Partnership Interest |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Real Estate Properties [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Ownership interest in partnership |  |  | 96.60% |  | 96.60% |  |  |
Distributions in Excess of Accumulated Earnings |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Real Estate Properties [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Cumulative effect adjustment | $ (760,028) | $ (857,994) | $ (760,028) | $ (857,994) | $ (887,619) | $ (708,697) | $ (822,087) | $ (812,796)
Cumulative Effect, Period Of Adoption, Adjusted Balance | Distributions in Excess of Accumulated Earnings |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Real Estate Properties [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Cumulative effect adjustment |  |  |  |  | $ 200 |  |  |

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