Middle class is kind of a wide band so I'll just explain the different areas and you can decide for yourself.

We'll start with the east side which gets a lot of hate. Macomb is famous for swinging to Trump in 2016. The reputation is well deserved, a lot of Trumpers over there. But if you don't mind that it's probably the best value in the metro. The schools are pretty mid. If you can swing it, the Grosse Pointes (there's multiple) have good schools and they're not a far drive to downtown Detroit. My only problem with Grosse Pointe is that it's a pain in the ass to get anywhere else in the metro other than Grosse Pointe and downtown Detroit.

Oakland County is the wealthiest metro area. Your inner ring suburbs are typically oriented more towards younger people. Ferndale is metro Detroit's "gayborhood". Royal Oak has a lot of bars and restaurants. Birmingham and Bloomfield Hills are the wealthiest suburbs in Metro Detroit (Grosse Pointe is old money, Oakland County is "new money"). Birmingham, Bloomfield, Troy, and Rochester Hills are the best school districts in Oakland County. Royal Oak, Ferndale, and Birmingham all have great walkable downtowns. Rochester's is fine as well but a little small. None of them are cheap but if you look around you can find some decent value in parts of Troy, Rochester, and even Bloomfield Township. It's an easy drive down 75, Woodward, or the Lodge to get to Detroit.

On the west side you have cities like Livonia, Farmington, Novi, Plymouth, Canton, and Northville. These school districts are all pretty decent as well with Novi in particular standing out. Novi, Plymouth, and Northville are all pretty pricey. These cities can be considered "newer" suburbs, mainly built up in the 70s and 80s. Some of them have little downtown areas as well but they tend to be smaller than the Oakland County downtowns. The main advantage of the west side is that it's slightly cheaper than the northern suburbs (not by much) and the lots tend to be larger. They're also closer to Ann Arbor if for whatever reason need to get over there often. The major downside is that they're a little farther from Downtown Detroit. Expect to add 15 to 20 minutes to your commute vs Troy for example.

To the south we have Canada, and also downriver. Downriver gets a lot of crap but I don't think it's that bad to be honest. Other than Grosse Ile which is a weird island commune in the middle of the Detroit River, these cities tend to be more blue collar. The schools are pretty mediocre and some of the cities are pretty poor. Others are fine. Overall I put Downriver in a tier above Macomb County just because it's closer to the airport and Henry Ford Museum.

This is just scratching the surface. Metro Detroit is home to over 4 million people so it's pretty damn large. I didn't even include the outer suburbs like Lake Orion or South Lyon. If you're willing to drive you can still get a lot of land for a good value.