Census of Agriculture data for selected years during 1949-64 indicate that longrun changes in Lake States dairying are related importantly to economic forces whose geographic impacts vary considerably. In the economic setting typified by large, expanding metropolitan areas, dairying is now declining in importance. In contrast, dairying is becoming more important beyond the sphere of urban-industrial expansion--over 30 miles from metropolitan areas. The net consequences over time of these changes are shifts from the metropolitan areas in the geographic distributions of the number of milk producers, milk cow numbers, and aggregate milk production.