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Organization and Basis of Presentation - Narrative (Details) $ in Thousands | 3 Months Ended | 9 Months Ended | 12 Months Ended |  |  |  |
--- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | ---
Sep. 30, 2020 USD ($) | Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($) | Sep. 30, 2020 USD ($) | Sep. 30, 2019 USD ($) | Dec. 31, 2019 USD ($) partnership investment community shares | Sep. 30, 2020 shares | Sep. 30, 2020 community | Sep. 30, 2020 apartment | Sep. 30, 2020 building | Sep. 30, 2020 project | Sep. 30, 2020 partnership | Sep. 30, 2020 investment | Jun. 30, 2020 USD ($) | Jun. 30, 2019 USD ($) | Dec. 31, 2018 USD ($)
Real Estate Properties [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Apartment communities owned (in communities) |  |  |  |  |  |  | 247 | 1 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Apartment units owned (in apartments) | apartment |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 60,387 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Ownership interest, number of commercial buildings (in commercial buildings) | building |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 1 |  |  |  |  |  |
Ownership interest, number of active development projects (in projects) | project |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 3 |  |  |  |  |
Ownership interest, number of unconsolidated joint venture projects (in projects) | project |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | 3 |  |  |  |  |
Accounting standards update [Extensible List] |  |  | us-gaap:AccountingStandardsUpdate201613Member | us-gaap:AccountingStandardsUpdate201712Member |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Cumulative effect adjustment | $ 6,267,482 | $ 6,415,004 | $ 6,267,482 | $ 6,415,004 | $ 6,403,504 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ 6,352,881 | $ 6,345,116 | $ 6,393,844
Equity securities | 2,700 |  | 2,700 |  | $ 3,600 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Sales and maturities of marketable securities | 52,600 | 7,000 | 56,900 | 57,200 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Marketable securities, realized gain | 91 | 200 | 100 | 700 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Gain (loss) on sale of equity securities |  |  | 2,215 | 4,280 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
DownREIT limited partnerships consolidated by company (in partnerships) | partnership |  |  |  |  | 17 |  |  |  |  |  | 17 |  |  |  |
Communities within DownREIT partnerships (in communities) | community |  |  |  |  | 9 |  | 9 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Number of previously consolidated co-investments considered VIE (in investments) | investment |  |  |  |  | 6 |  |  |  |  |  |  | 5 |  |  |
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 | 329,900 |  | 329,900 |  | 364,300 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Noncontrolling interest in variable interest entity | 121,200 |  | 121,200 |  | 122,500 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Fixed rate debt carrying amount | 5,800,000 |  | 5,800,000 |  | 5,200,000 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Fixed rate debt fair value | 6,000,000 |  | 6,000,000 |  | 5,400,000 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Variable rate debt, carrying amount | 804,900 |  | 804,900 |  | 660,400 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Variable rate debt fair value | 799,600 |  | 799,600 |  | 655,800 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Investments in mortgage back securities, fair value | 29,600 |  | 29,600 |  | 72,700 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Capitalized internal costs related to development and redevelopment projects | 6,100 | 11,000 | 24,900 | 32,100 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Redeemable noncontrolling interest | 30,719 |  | 30,719 |  | 37,410 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Mortgage backed security |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Real Estate Properties [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Investments in mortgage backed securities, carrying value | 29,578 |  | 29,578 |  | $ 72,651 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Interest And Other Income |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Real Estate Properties [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Gain (loss) on sale of equity securities | 3,300 | (200) | 2,200 | $ 4,300 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Essex Portfolio, L.P. |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Real Estate Properties [Line Items] |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Operating Partnership units outstanding (in shares) | shares |  |  |  |  | 2,301,653 | 2,295,510 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Redemption value of operating partnership units outstanding | 460,900 |  | $ 460,900 |  | $ 692,500 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Accounting standards update [Extensible List] |  |  | us-gaap:AccountingStandardsUpdate201613Member | us-gaap:AccountingStandardsUpdate201712Member |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Gain (loss) on sale of equity securities |  |  | $ 2,215 | $ 4,280 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Redeemable noncontrolling interest | 30,719 |  | $ 30,719 |  | $ 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 | $ (821,841) | $ (887,521) | $ (821,841) | $ (887,521) | $ (887,619) |  |  |  |  |  |  |  | $ (760,028) | $ (857,994) | $ (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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