Awans in general enjoy a respected status in Pakistan. Many play prominent roles in the military, business, politics and literature, such as the former Commander in Chief of the Pakistan Air Force and former Governor of West Pakistan, Air Marshal Nur Khan, former Director of the Intelligence bureau, A. B. Awan, former Governor of West Pakistan, Malik Amir Mohammad Khan (the Nawab of Kalabagh), Sufi poet-saint, Sultan Bahu, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Nasreen Awan, the owner of the popular Awan Transport Company, Malik Gulzaman Awan, renowned poets, Ahmad Nadeem Qasimi, Fazil Jamili (twice elected as General Secretary of the Karachi Union of Journalists) and Wasif Ali Wasif, well-known columnist Abdul Qadir Hassan and distinguished politicians Malik Mahmood-ul-Hassan Awan and Sumaira Malik.

On a rural level, Awans are respected as members of the Zamindar or landed class. Many Awan families to this day live on and cultivate land which their ancestors have held for centuries. They often carry titles typical to Punjabis who own tracts of ancestral land such as Malik,and Khan. The modern surname system often results in members of the same family with different surnames, some chosing their position as a surname i.e. Malik and some choosing their clan/tribe/family name of Awan.

Geographical distribution

The majority of Awans are found in the Punjab (Pakistan). Their population is concentrated in the districts of Chakwal,Abbottabad, Haripur, Mansehra, Jhelum, Rawalpindi, Attock, Sargodha, Khushab, and Mianwali (Awan tribes residing here are believed to have been the sole occupants of the Mianwali Salt Range for nearly 600 years), and also scattered throughout the rest of Punjab (tracts in regions such as Jhelum and Mianwali are so heavily populated by Awans that they are referred to as "Awankari". Pre-Partition, an Awankari existed in Jalandhar. Awankari is also a dialect of Punjabi). Though these areas are their ancestral homelands and many own farms and other property there, many Awans live in the major cities of Pakistan such as Lahore (where a section of the Awan tribe has established a settlement, aptly named Awan Town), Islamabad, and Karachi.

The Awan tribe is also to be found in great numbers in the North West Frontier Province, particularly in the Hazara Division and Peshawar valley. A smaller portion of the tribe resides in Azad Kashmir. A minor proportion of the tribe is also present in the Pakistani provinces of Sindh and Balochistan. In addition, they can also be found in Afghanistan and some parts of India.