FAIRFIELD, Conn. — As word spread last week that General Electric was moving its headquarters and some of its employees to Boston, residents of this coastal town were just beginning to absorb what it will mean for their community to lose one of the country’s largest corporations.

The company has about 800 employees working in its corporate headquarters.

“Certainly there will be a lot of homes for sale,” said Michael Brosnan, a consultant who discovered the town when he traveled from Manhattan 10 years ago for a business meeting at G.E. He liked Fairfield so much, he bought a house here last summer. “I feel like local people will suffer,” Mr. Brosnan said.

With household incomes well above the state median, Fairfield was an attractive destination when G.E. moved its headquarters from New York City in 1974. Executives were drawn to this part of Connecticut by the lower tax rates, good schools and family-friendly towns. Today, Fairfield has about 60,000 residents, town officials said.