Gmail – Sort Gmail inbox messages by label

To label the currently open mail, press L and start typing the label. Matching labels will appear as you type, so you can just navigate to the one you want (using arrow keys) and press Enter.

To label AND archive the mail at the same time, press V instead of L and follow the same procedure.

In the mail list view, use J and K to move up and down the list (the tiny arrow to the left of each item will move), press X to select one or more mails and then use L or V to add labels.

I see two options. One of these may meet your need:

1. Use the old trick of starting the label name with an underscore. That puts it at the top of the list. If you have more labels you want near the top, it will put them in alphabetical order. You would also use a combination of underscore and a number to force the order you want so that _1Zoo will come before _2bills

2. Use multiple inboxes. This will let you put the extra inbox above, below or to the right of your main inbox. I use multiple inbox to display specific labels. Use the search query "is:bills" (without the quotes) to put all emails with that label in the extra inbox. You turn on multiple inboxes under the labs section of the settings page.