The objective of this study was to assess the effect of lameness on behavioral activity in transition dairy cows. A behavioral activity index (BAI) was computed (Titler et al., 2015 J. Dairy Sci. 98:5304–5312) for every animal taking into account the number of steps (no./d), standing time (min/d), lying time (min/d), and lying bouts (LB, no./d). A total of 387 Holstein dairy cows (110 primiparous and 277 multiparous) in 3 commercial dairy herds were enrolled at 7 d before calving until 14 d post-calving. Weekly, a cohort of 10 to 15 pre-partum heifers and cows were enrolled at each farm, and electronic data loggers (IceQube, IceRobotics, Edinburgh, UK) were fitted to the hind leg of individual animals to assess their behavioral activity. Pre-partum heifers and cows were moved into pre-partum pens 21 d before the expected calving date. All heifers and cows were housed in similar pre-partum free-stall barns and moved into a contiguous individual maternity pen for parturition. Animals were screened for lameness using a 3-point scoring system (LS; 1 = normal walk, 2 = moderately lame, and 3 = severely lame) at 7 d before calving and at 14 DIM. The BAI was computed for the first 7 DIM to assess differences among LS in primiparous and multiparous cows. Data were analyzed using MIXED procedure of SAS. Primiparous cows (P < 0.05) had greater BAI compared with multiparous cows, and as cows mature (multiparous), they become less active around the transition period. Regardless of parity, postpartum cows with LS of 3 spent more time lying (742 min/d) than cows with LS of 1 (654 min/d; P < 0.05). Postpartum cows with LS of 1 had a greater BAI (380; P < 0.05) compared with cows with LS of 3 (BAI of 278). These results suggest that monitoring a combination of behavioral metrics, such as lying time and BAI, could be used to consistently identify lame cows within herds.