Amortized Cost, Gross Unrealized Gains (Losses) and Fair Value of Available-For-Sale Securities (Detail) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	Jul. 31, 2019	Jan. 31, 2019	Jul. 31, 2018
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	$ 249,916	$ 336,292	$ 244,023
Unrealized Gains	469	532	182
Unrealized (Losses)	(130)	(300)	(525)
Fair Value	250,255	336,524	243,680
Short-term Investments
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	171,206	279,426	198,460
Unrealized Gains	232	39	10
Unrealized (Losses)	(40)	(233)	(304)
Fair Value	171,398	279,232	198,166
Short-term Investments \| Corporate Bonds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	125,943	227,287	150,648
Unrealized Gains	190	24
Unrealized (Losses)	(31)	(214)	(261)
Fair Value	126,102	227,097	150,387
Short-term Investments \| Municipal And Pre-Refunded Municipal Bonds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	42,023	43,677	46,904
Unrealized Gains	40	15	10
Unrealized (Losses)	(9)	(18)	(43)
Fair Value	42,054	43,674	46,871
Short-term Investments \| Certificates of Deposit
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	1,745	1,050	908
Fair Value	1,745	1,050	908
Short-term Investments \| Federal Government Agencies
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	1,495	1,458
Unrealized Gains	2
Fair Value	1,497	1,458
Short-term Investments \| Commercial Paper
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost		2,979
Fair Value		2,979
Short-term Investments \| Treasury Bills
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost		2,975
Unrealized (Losses)		(1)
Fair Value		2,974
Long Term Investments
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	78,710	56,866	45,563
Unrealized Gains	237	493	172
Unrealized (Losses)	(90)	(67)	(221)
Fair Value	78,857	57,292	45,514
Long Term Investments \| Corporate Bonds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	49,385	34,265	34,333
Unrealized Gains	174	34
Unrealized (Losses)	(33)	(63)	(213)
Fair Value	49,526	34,236	34,120
Long Term Investments \| Municipal And Pre-Refunded Municipal Bonds
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	19,526	7,554	2,130
Unrealized Gains	6	7	1
Unrealized (Losses)	(50)	(3)	(7)
Fair Value	19,482	7,558	2,124
Long Term Investments \| Certificates of Deposit
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	1,847	2,143	2,699
Fair Value	1,847	2,143	2,699
Long Term Investments \| Federal Government Agencies
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	126	6,603
Unrealized Gains	1	2
Unrealized (Losses)		(1)
Fair Value	127	6,604
Long Term Investments \| Mutual Funds, Held in Rabbi Trust
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Amortized Cost	7,826	6,301	6,401
Unrealized Gains	56	450	171
Unrealized (Losses)	(7)		(1)
Fair Value	$ 7,875	$ 6,751	$ 6,571

Amount, before tax, of unrealized gain in accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) on investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118939692&loc=d3e27161-111563

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AvailableForSaleDebtSecuritiesAccumulatedGrossUnrealizedGainBeforeTax
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	credit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount, before tax, of unrealized loss in accumulated other comprehensive income (AOCI) on investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

+ References

Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (c)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118939692&loc=d3e27161-111563

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AvailableForSaleDebtSecuritiesAccumulatedGrossUnrealizedLossBeforeTax
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amortized cost of investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (a)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118939692&loc=d3e27161-111563

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 326
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118942338&loc=SL82898722-210454

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AvailableForSaleDebtSecuritiesAmortizedCostBasis
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Amount of investment in debt security measured at fair value with change in fair value recognized in other comprehensive income (available-for-sale).

+ References

Reference 1: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 326
-SubTopic 30
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118942338&loc=SL82898722-210454

Reference 2: http://www.xbrl.org/2003/role/disclosureRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 45
-Paragraph 1
-Subparagraph (b)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118954083&loc=d3e26610-111562

Reference 3: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef
-Publisher FASB
-Name Accounting Standards Codification
-Topic 320
-SubTopic 10
-Section 50
-Paragraph 2
-Subparagraph (aa)
-URI http://asc.fasb.org/extlink&oid=118939692&loc=d3e27161-111563

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_AvailableForSaleSecuritiesDebtSecurities
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:monetaryItemType
Balance Type:	debit
Period Type:	instant

- Definition

Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

+ References

No definition available.

+ Details

Name:	us-gaap_ScheduleOfAvailableForSaleSecuritiesLineItems
Namespace Prefix:	us-gaap_
Data Type:	xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type:	na
Period Type:	duration

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=urbn_ShortTermMarketableInvestmentsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentTypeAxis=us-gaap_CorporateDebtSecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentTypeAxis=urbn_MunicipalAndPreRefundedMunicipalBondsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentTypeAxis=us-gaap_CertificatesOfDepositMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentTypeAxis=urbn_FederalGovernmentAgenciesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentTypeAxis=us-gaap_CommercialPaperMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentTypeAxis=us-gaap_USTreasuryBillSecuritiesMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_FinancialInstrumentAxis=urbn_LongTermMarketableInvestmentsMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type:

- Details

Name:	us-gaap_InvestmentTypeAxis=us-gaap_MutualFundMember
Namespace Prefix:
Data Type:	na
Balance Type:
Period Type: