The number of counties in state a and the number of counties in state b are consecutive even integers whose sum is 142. if state a has more counties than state b, how many counties does each state have?

Let the number of counties in state B be n, then the number of counties in state A is n+2 (the next even integer number after n). The sum of these two consecutive integers is 142, then

n+n+2=142,

2n=142-2,

2n=140,

n=70.

In state B there are 70 counties, and in state A there are 72 counties.